Visions in the Night Sky
by Cielita
Summary: Professor Severus Snape didn't want a student teacher, but what he got was more than he bargained for. Rated R for violence in later chapters. New chapters as of 4-10-04!
1. A Gryffindor in a Slytherin's World

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 1: A Gryffindor in a Slytherin's World 

            "Headmaster, is it really necessary?" Severus Snape pleaded as he stood before the desk of Albus Dumbledore.  

            "Now Severus, I thought you of all people would see that it is the mark of a true master to be asked to teach another.  Besides, I thought perhaps you would appreciate the challenge of a student teacher," said Albus, looking over the papers once more before handing them to Severus.  The black clad potions master looked them over with his scrutinizing chocolate brown gaze.  

            "A woman," he murmured without looking at Albus.  

            "A Gryffindor as well.  She earned excellent marks in her years here," Albus replied.  Severus' forehead puckered as he reviewed her grades.  He would have remembered a student who had achieved marks like these.  They were indeed as excellent as Dumbledore had said.  Especially in transfiguration, potions and divination.  But a Gryffindor?  Did Dumbledore really expect him to mentor and guide a Gryffindor?  Part of him was embarrassed that he didn't remember her name.  

_Merewen Euphemia Capenum_

            The name sounded vaguely familiar now.  She had been a model student.  A model _Gryffindor_ student: brave, diligent, intelligent, generous and strong.  Severus nodded respectfully to the headmaster and excused himself, needing to process this new information.  Albus smiled as he watched Severus leave the headmaster's office, still looking at the papers in his hand.  This student teacher would be arriving in time to begin teaching on Monday.  Her quarters would be adjacent to his in the dungeons.  He wondered how comfortable a young lady who was accustomed to the lofty, sunny Gryffindor tower would be in the darker, cooler dungeon area.  

            Sitting back in the thick, high backed leather chair in his office, Severus flipped through the file that Albus had given him looking for a picture.  When he found it, he stopped and lightly fingered it.  Before him was a smiling, green-eyed young woman with dark brown hair drawn up into a bun.  She wore dark blue robes with a black dress.  Reviewing more of her profile, Severus noted that she owned a cat, and played several musical instruments.  Rising, Severus took the file with him to the chambers down the hall, directly beside his own.  He turned the knob and it turned stiffly.  He made a mental note to ask Filch to fix it.  When he opened the door, the air smelled musty and stale.  The room hadn't been used in ages; not since his brother Oran had been there visiting years ago.  

            Severus put in a request at once to have the house elves clean this room.  It would need to be presentable for Merewen when she arrived Saturday afternoon.  By the next morning, Saturday morning, Severus looked into the room to find that the house elves had outdone themselves.  The room was spotless and redecorated.  The curtains, both on the bed and on the window that had fallen into disrepair had been replaced, new bed linens and rugs had been brought down, the wardrobe had been refinished and was ready to hold clothes, the bookshelves had been repaired and dusted, and the vanity and nightstand had been cleaned and refreshed.  Taking a few steps into the room, Severus noted that the bathroom adjoining this room had been repaired and updated and fresh linens were here also.  Severus took a deep breath and nodded. It was a job well done if he did say so himself.  There were just a few finishing touches Severus had thought of the night before.  He hoped he was not being presumptuous by doing so.  

            He looked at the wide, empty corner and conjured a piano there.  Near the bookcase he placed a large desk with extra parchment, ink and quills.  Then he filled two of the six shelves on the bookcase with helpful texts that she could use for planning her lessons.  He was sure that the actual pedagogy would be no problem for her.  According to her file, she had been tutoring privately while she was training in order to gain practice.  This was a smart move that Severus himself didn't think of when he was training.  He had decided that most people didn't have the propensity to understand the delicate art of potion making and this drove most young potions students away from him. 

            Looking around, he wondered if there was anything else he could add for her.  He was about to leave when he stopped himself, pointed his wand at the foot of her curtained four-poster bed conjured a small animal bed.  Merewen, he remembered, owned a cat.  By that evening, Severus finished a list of daily and weekly classroom procedures, as well as a list of his expectations of her and placed them neatly in the center of her desktop.  Feeling as though he was prepared for Merewen's arrival, Severus made his way up to the front entry way, where Dumbledore had asked him to meet he and McGonagall so that they could properly welcome young Merewen to Hogwarts.  

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It was nearly dinner time when a carriage wound its way up to the castle.  As the castle loomed before her, Merewen peered out the window of the carriage and stared in wonder.  She was eager to begin teaching here, but other challenges daunted her courageous spirit.  Professor Snape was a difficult master.  She didn't expect him to make any exceptions for her simply because she was Hogwarts alumni.  She didn't expect anyone to remember her, or automatically like her.  She wasn't here to be anyone's friend.  She was here to be a teacher.  

            Of course, she _wanted_ the students to like her and she _wanted_ the staff to respect her, but it wasn't something she expected to be automatic.  Merewen straightened her back and put on a professional smile.  She was ready.  

            When the carriage arrived at the castle, the driver jumped down and opened the door, offering her his hand as she stepped down and walked toward the castle.  The driver, carrying her things, followed.  Merewen herself carried her small traveling bag and a medium sized wicker basket.  A muffled mew from inside this basket made her smile.  

            "I know, Meriwether," she murmured.  "We're almost there, baby."  

            Merewen smiled as the door opened for her and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were there waiting for her.  

            "Miss Capenum!  Such a pleasure to have you back with us.  I'm told Professor Snape has spent a good deal of time preparing for your arrival tonight," said Albus.  

            "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore.  I'll try not to disappoint him," Merewen said, extending her hand to Dumbledore, who politely kissed it.  Merewen nodded professionally to Professor McGonagall and the Deputy in turn, gave Merewen one of her rare smiles.  Merewen then turned to Professor Snape.  

            "Professor," Merewen said, once again offering her hand.  "I hope this is the beginning of a very profitable learning experience."  Snape drew her hand close and kissed it with nearly breathless lips.  He had not expected her to be nearly so beautiful.  He had read her file, seen her picture, but the photo hardly did her justice.  Now Snape knew why he didn't remember her at first.  He was *trying* not to.  A crush on a student was not something he had wanted to leak out, and he had been fairly certain that she didn't return his affection.  He stood back and looked at her from head to toe.  Her hair was pulled back into a sensible bun, her robes and dress were neatly pressed, and her smile like a candle in a dark room: radiant, but not so strong that it drove people away.   

            At dinner, a new place had been set beside Snape for Merewen, and Dumbledore introduced her to the school before the meal began.  As dinner progressed, Snape made an effort to remain professional.  It appeared to work.  No one else at table noticed that he was nervous, least of all Merewen.  He decided in his mind that he would simply have to do what he did when she was in school and discipline himself very carefully.  He would be working especially close to her now, but he knew he could handle it.  This would pass, and she would leave his life again just as quickly as she had come.  Comforting himself with this, he finished his meal easier.  

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            After dinner, Merewen followed Snape down to the dungeons.  They passed the common room, Snape's office, and then his quarters and then came to the spare quarters.  When Snape turned the knob it opened easily.  Filch had done the repair job well.  Entering the room before her, Snape lit the lamps on the walls and threw light on the objects in the room.  

            "I hope these quarters will be acceptable.  The only light we get is filtered from the water as we are beneath the lake, but there is more than enough time in a day for walking outside and such," Snape said as he turned to face her.  Merewen took a few steps past him and approached the desk.  

            "You'll find that all of the paperwork is in order.  I'll expect you to observe for the first three days and then be prepared to teach your first week of lessons to the first years.  I'll expect you to keep a brief journal of your observations and meet with me on a regular basis to discuss your progress," said Severus.  Merewen nodded and looked up at him, "Sounds like everything is in order, Professor, thank you," she said.  

            Severus nodded and watched as Merewen took the wicker basket and placed it on the bed gently before lifting the lid and allowing a tiny kitten to jump from the cushioned inside.  The little creature mewed and purred, turning circles on Merewen's bed and looking about with wide, curious baby eyes.  Merewen smiled and lifted the kitten into her arms to snuggle him a bit.  She spotted the animal bed and looked at Snape in surprise.  

            "How did you know?" she asked.  

            "It was in your file," Severus said.  "If you'll excuse me.  I have some things to finalize before the end of the evening.  I trust you remember the schedule.  Good evening to you, Miss Capenum."   Merewen nodded and watched him go until the door had latched closed and then placed the kitty in his bed.  He purred and looked up at her, mewing again.  

            "We're finally here, Meriwether!" Merewen said, flopping back across the bed.  "I'm finally going to be a professor!"

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            When Snape reached his chambers he shut and locked the door.  He made it through this beginning orientation.  He hoped that this ache in his chest would subside after a while.  Technically, he was no longer her teacher nor was she his student, but he was her mentor and supervisor and needed to maintain some professional distance if her student teaching was to be a success.  Oh, how was he to do this?  Snape let his head sink to his pillow that night and fell asleep quickly, deciding that the notion would have to wait for another day.  


	2. Observation, Cause and Effect

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 2: Observation, Cause, and Effect 

            The first days of Merewen's  experience flew by.  Before she knew it she was teaching her first class.  Merewen found herself shaking a bit as she rose and walked to the front of the room.  She started well.  

            "Your assignment today will be to produce a sleeping potion," Merewen began.  "Please open your textbooks to chapter 12, section 31."  The students did as they were told as Merewen read from the book and asked that they follow along.  The chalk at the board copied the instructions as she spoke them aloud.  

            After Merewen had finished her lecture, she walked around as the students prepared their potions, commenting and correcting as they went along.  Aside from minor disciplinary problems that Merewen did her best to put a stop to, everything seemed to be going according to plan.  Professor Snape watched from his desk, making notes and generally observing as Merewen taught.  He was impressed.  He would not have guessed that she would do so well right away.  Then the inevitable happened: Neville Longbottom's younger brother Nigel messed up.  It was a problem that seemed to follow in the Longbottom family genetic structure.  Anything could be messed up.  

            Nigel's potion turned a sickening shade of green and began to foam and spill over the side of his cauldron.  He tried to raise his hand, but Merewen was standing over Agatha Anness' cauldron and complimenting on her careful mixture of the ingredients.  By the time Merewen looked up and saw Nigel's predicament, the foam had spilled over the cauldron and burned through the sleeve of Miranda Marcus' school uniform causing her to howl in agony.  

            Merewen produced her wand and emptied Nigel's cauldron.  She gave him a stern look.  

            "Miss Marcus, please go to the hospital wing and see that Madam Pomfrey tends to that burn quickly.  Mr. Longbottom, I want to see your lab notes immediately," Merewen said, coming to Nigel's table.  

            "That won't help.  The Longbottoms could cause havoc even _with_ proper instructions and notes.  Take points from Gryffindor and get it over with, Miss Capenum," Snape said, standing and walking toward them.  

            "With all due respect, Professor, I don't think taking points away is necessary.  Mr. Longbottom and I will discuss after class today ways that he could improve his methods in class as well as his safety precautions," said Merewen.  Snape was now right beside her.  

            "It is clearly stated in the list of procedures I gave you that mine is the final authority in the classroom, Miss Capenum.  Ten points from Gryffindor for your incompetence, Longbottom," Snape said coldly.  Before Merewen could muster the courage to argue, the bell rang, and Merewen assigned their reading homework before she released them.  

            When they were alone, Snape returned to his desk, leaving Merewen still standing beside the lab table and wondering what the most prudent course of action was.  

            "I'll be noting your lack of classroom ethics in my evaluation, Miss Capenum," Snape said without looking up at her.  

            "Lack of ethics, Professor?" Merewen repeated breathlessly.  

            "Your apparent disregard for the school rules reflects faulty ethics, Miss Capenum.  Longbottom should have immediately lost points for his mistake.  You hesitated.  You cannot repair a fence with a toothpick," Snape said, finally looking up at her.  She took a few steps toward him as she found the courage to defend herself.  

            "And Confucius said not to use a cannon to kill a mosquito," Merewen countered.  

            "Confucius was a fool." 

            "And so are you." 

            Snape stopped his quill and looked wide-eyed at his student teacher.  

            "I beg your pardon?" he asked.  

            "How can you expect your students to learn if you don't allow them to make mistakes and to mend them?  Mistakes are how people learn!  No one simply gets on a broomstick and automatically knows how to ride one!" Merewen cried.  

            "Professor McGonagall seems to be of the opinion that Potter accomplished that very thing in his first year, so it must at least be possible," Snape replied.  

            "Good day, Professor," Merewen said, slamming her book and lifting the stack of papers to be corrected into her arms with it before heading for the classroom door.  

            "Where are you going?  I haven't dismissed you!" 

            "I have work to do," Merewen growled.  

            "I'll be noting this in my—" 

            " So note it then!  Nothing I say is going to make a bloody bit of difference because you've already made your judgment before I can defend myself!" Merewen yelled, slamming the classroom door and going back to her room.  

            Sitting in the silence, Snape placed his quill back in the inkpot and rubbed his temples.  This day had been a cascade of cause and effect.  Nigel's mistake lead to the chaos in the classroom.  This situation lead Merewen to try to fix it, just as any good teacher would.  When she tried to fix it using an approach he had not considered he had openly challenged her in front of the students and probably had damaged their respect for her.  Then he had made it worse by challenging her again after the class was gone.  She had been right and he knew it.  He didn't dare try to confront her again.  It would have to wait until morning.  

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            Merewen sat at her desk, correcting papers by lamp light.  She was furious, but she tried not to let it show in her correction of the students' papers.  Finally, she couldn't hold it back anymore and managed to replace her quill in its ink jar before she lowered her head to her hands and cried.  Meriwether jumped up to the top of her desk, mewed softly, and curled against her arm.  As she reached over to pet him, there was a knock at her door.  Who could that be?  Merewen looked at her pocket watch.  She had been so upset that she worked through dinner.  Carefully, she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief and rose to answer the door.  

            Professor McGonagall stood there, head held high and a stern look on her face.  Merewen was sure that she had heard about Professor Snape's evaluation.  Merewen quietly invited her in.  Without flinching, she entered and sat down in one of the chairs near the fire that Merewen offered her.  

            "May I offer you anything, Professor McGonagall?" Merewen asked politely.  

            "No thank you, Miss Capenum.  Please, join me," McGonagall replied.  Merewen slowly approached and sat down in the chair opposite the stoic Deputy Headmistress expecting an earful of what she should have done.  Instead, when Merewen looked up, Professor McGonagall's look changed completely.  Her eyes softened, her mouth relaxed, and she took on a look of pure concern and sympathy.  

            "Merewen, Professor Snape told me about what happened in class today," McGonagall began, watching for Merewen's reaction.  Merewen flinched nearly imperceptibly.  

            "Professor Snape says I should have just taken points away from Nigel and let it go," Merewen replied.  

            "Yes.  That would have been the easiest thing to do, but what do you think?" asked McGonagall.  

            "I think that what Nigel needs is encouragement and extra help.  I've worked with children like him before.  They need a classroom environment where it's okay to make a mistake as long as he learns how to correct it.  He should feel safe enough to ask questions and explore the art of potion making, not be afraid of it," Merewen explained, beginning to feel like she could open up to Professor McGonagall.  Meriwether stretched and softly mewed as he trotted on little cat feet over to meet this stranger in green robes.  He mewed at Professor McGonagall's feet and then jumped into her lap, purring and rubbing against her hands. 

            "Meriwether, no!" Merewen admonished him, but Professor McGonagall was already stroking his downy fur and smiling.  

            "That's quite all right, Merewen.  You of all people know that I share a special kinship with cats." Merewen smiled at this.  Meriwether continued to purr and lightly gnaw at McGonagall's fingers.  She just chuckled and stroked him a bit more as she and Merewen talked.  

            By the time Professor McGonagall left, Merewen was feeling much better.  McGonagall had completely understood and encouraged her to be patient with Professor Snape.  Snape had his reasons for doing things the way he does, and to have someone newer and younger come in and do it differently was difficult for him.  Merewen understood this.  She hoped that she could patch things up with Professor Snape.  A rift so early in her 10 week student teaching experience would have a devastating effect on their working relationship.  Merewen snuggled into bed that night feeling better.  Perhaps this experience at Hogwarts was going to be okay after all.  

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             For the following three weeks, Professor Snape did his best to let Merewen teach the way she wanted.  If she made mistakes or had questions, she would come to him soon enough.  He just didn't know when that would be and it bothered him.  Their private meetings had been tense for a while after that first explosion.  She had been short with him—professional—but short all the same.  He wondered at length just how long she was going to be upset with him.  

            Three days into her fourth week, Merewen had long since started talking to him again. To both of their surprise, a professional relationship was blossoming.  Professor Dumbledore even spotted them walking through the halls, discussing the latest issue of Potions Monthly.  It seemed there had been a discrepancy between traditional ingredients of involved in the brewing of a sensation potion and the more modern.  As they talked and walked, they hardly noticed anyone else around them.  

            Professor McGonagall noticed the following week, the middle point of Merewen's teaching experience, that the students were coming back from Hogsmeade with rumors that Professor Snape and Miss Capenum were having coffee together but not really saying much in the way of conversation.  The students giggled at this but Professor McGonagall wasn't sure it was quite so humorous.  To speak to her and spend time with her was one thing, but for the students to begin thinking that there was something going on between them could be dangerous.  For Severus more than anyone else.  The professional repercussions notwithstanding, McGonagall knew what lay in Severus Snape's heart, and if he had that heart broken, the damage may well be irreparable.  Something had to be done.  

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	3. Reverberation

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 3: Reverberation 

            Minerva McGonagall paced back and forth in front of Albus Dumbledore's desk.  He was sitting back in his chair, his head resting in one hand while he watched with a bemused look as the bespectacled witch sputtered as she slowly wore a hole in the rug before the desk.  

            "This has gone far enough, Albus.  Something should be done.  Someone should say something to them.  I don't have to tell you what could happen if Severus gets his heart broken.  It's not going to be a pretty picture, Albus, I tell you what.  And Merewen!  She's far too young for him and he knows it!  She should be seeing a young man closer to her own age!  Speaking of that, who's to say that she isn't?  Poor Severus is pining over a young woman who doesn't even know the damage she's causing her own teacher!" Minerva cried, occasionally wringing her hands as she paced and talked at the same time.  Albus fought a chuckle.  If Minerva could hear herself!  

            "You know, my dear, the same could have been said of us in our day," Albus commented.  Minerva stopped and fixed him with a look of dry irritation.  

            "We're different." 

            "How so, my love?" 

            Albus gave his beloved a playful smile.  Minerva's look of determination melted into one of helpless frustration as she threw up her hands before folding them over her chest and turning away from him.  She hated to lose an argument as it was, let alone the fact that most of the time, Albus was right.  Dumbledore rose from his chair and joined Minerva across the room.  He folded his hands around her upper arms and chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her temple.  He turned Minerva to face him.  She was still pouting and her chin quivered.  

            "Minerva, who are you more worried about?  Them or you?"  Albus asked.  

            "What are you talking about?" asked Minerva.  

            "You're afraid that Severus will have his heart broken and that you will have to be there to pick up the pieces and put them back together again.  You're afraid that if you don't control the situation now it will spin out and when it does, you won't be able to help them.  You don't have control and it frightens you," Albus said calmly.  

            "That's not true!" 

            "Oh really?" he fired back.  "When we went to Geneva for that conference on the illicit use of puffskeins in deviant practices who packed my bags?  It certainly was not me." 

            "You were going to pack those awful green socks to go with your favorite robes and I stick to what I said, the weather in Geneva never holds.  You weren't packing anything appropriate to the weather I was expecting and--"

            "Minerva, did it rain in Geneva that weekend?" 

            "---"

            "Exactly.  Love is precisely as predictable as the weather in Geneva.  You must let Severus and Merewen sort out their feelings.  So far as I've seen, Merewen does not return his affection in the same manner.  It is true that he is beginning to exhibit behaviors to suggest that he is infatuated with Merewen, but she thus far seems to only admire him as a Master and Teacher.  Let them be, my Minerva.  If it becomes too serious a problem, I promise, we will intervene," Albus replied.  Minerva seemed satisfied.  She leaned into Albus' arms and let him hold her, for a while.  She sniffled away the rest of the tears that had not quite escaped her eyes and returned his embrace.  Still very much wrapped in one another's arms, Albus and Minerva turned and made off in the direction of their bedroom.  Minerva was, after all, Albus' wife.  

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            Albus was pulling his nightshirt over his head when Minerva emerged from their bathroom with her toothbrush in her mouth, her hair still half up, and her spectacles still on her nose.  As soon as Albus stood up from the bed, Minerva began to pull the covers down.  As Albus reached to help her, she started in again.  

            "..ee ould at east uoo some-ing abou is ing wit Severus and Merewen," Minerva stated with her mouth still full of toothpaste.  

            "I told you, my dear, we will only intervene if necessary," said Albus, smoothing the sheets.  

            " on't for-et to pueh ou your cothes foh tomorroh, Albus," Minerva said, her tartan bathrobe loosely covering her white linen nightgown.  

            "Spit out your toothpaste my dear before you swallow it," Albus advised.  "I would hate to have to explain to the school how you died choking on your toothpaste while trying to remind a 156 year old man of his evening routine."  There was a spitting noise, a mouth-rinsing noise, the water running, and then the clink of Minerva's toothbrush hitting the cup on the bathroom counter.  

            "You'll pay for that one, Albus Dumbledore," Minerva threatened, removing her robe and hanging it neatly on the bedpost before carefully lifting the covers and crawling in beside him.  

            "How?  Will you rearrange my sock drawer next?" 

            Minerva could feel the vein in her neck starting to pulse harder.  

            "You mean sock *dresser*.  The collection takes up all of one of my hope chests," Minerva muttered.  

            "I suppose your collection of every-object-with-a-tartan-pattern is any smaller?" he quipped.  She swatted at him and Albus laughed, capturing her mouth in a warm kiss.  When he pulled back, they were both smiling.  

            "I sincerely hope that if Severus and Merewen ever do wind up together, they don't bicker as we do," Minerva chuckled.  Albus traced her face with his finger, sweeping a segment of hair from her eyes.  

            "Oh, my Minerva, I hope they do.  What better reason to make up?" Albus murmured.  

            "You crazy old man!" Minerva laughed.  

            "Old am I?" Albus smiled, kissing her again.  "Well, Mrs. Dumbledore, let me show you what this crazy old man is capable of!"   

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	4. Event on the Horizon

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

A/N: The song excerpt is by Evanescence.

Chapter 4: Event on the Horizon  

            Saturday sun blared down through the waters of the lake, turning them greenish in color as it illuminated Merewen's bed.  Meriwether lightly swatted his little front paws at the window, chasing a fish that swam too closely to the glass.  Growing bored with this, Meriwether leapt from the sill and up on to Merewen's bed, purring and kneading as he sat on her chest.  

            *Meow!* 

            Merewen blinked slowly and reached up out of the covers to pet him.  Meriwether was growing quickly and it wouldn't be long before his downy kitten fuzz was replaced with smooth, sleek tabby fur.  Merewen stretched and forced herself to get up.  Her lessons for the next week had to be written and she had a ten o'clock meeting with Professor Sprout to discuss new herbs and roots that she needed for her upper level classes.  

            By mid-afternoon, Merewen had finished her work and was ready for some serious relaxation.  She returned to her chambers and dropped her books on the desk.  Meriwether meowed loudly and Merewen gladly scooped him up and cuddled him close to her as she walked across the room to her piano.  Placing him on the top of the instrument, she sank down behind the keys and began to sing and play.  

            _"…Baby, Marry me, _

_            Promise me you'll stay with me_

_            Oh you don't have to ask me_

_            You know you're all that I live for_

_            You know I'd die just to hold you_

_            Stay with you _

_            Somehow I'll show you _

_            That you are my night sky _

_            I've always been right behind you_

_            Now I'll always be right beside you!"   _

            Merewen's soaring mezzo-soprano accompanied the piano as the melody penetrated the walls and floated like a breeze to Severus' ears.  

            _"So many nights, I've cried myself to sleep_

_            Now that you love me, I love myself_

_            I never thought that I would say this_

_            I never thought there'd be you!" _The muted sound of Merewen's voice sang.  Severus put down his quill and listened.  When she finished the song, he couldn't help a smile.  Her voice was lovely; a ribbon of rich, dulcet tones certainly meant to bring him a smile on this day.  It had been a successful sixth week for Merewen, and Severus found himself more and more comfortable leaving the room for short spans of time to attend to other matters.  This was part of Merewen's training.  She had to be able to conduct class without him in the background to jump in and rescue her.  Not that she needed him.  The students liked Merewen's avant garde methods of teaching as much as they enjoyed her sense of humor and quiet joy.  

            A rare smile crossed Severus' face.  It seemed that as Merewen explored teaching and endeavored to make herself a better professor, she was helping Severus to discover things about himself he thought were lost.  He was feeling more relaxed, and was beginning to look forward to things again.  He hadn't felt like this since he was a little boy.  Most of all, he was looking forward to his meetings with his headstrong, passionate student teacher.  The last time they met to talk about the classroom, she brought the afternoon tea with her and they laughed and talked until they were very late for dinner.  As they walked briskly down the hall, Merewen nearly had to take two steps for every one of Severus'.  She laughed out loud at this.  She had to carry her skirts as they climbed the stairs and Merewen broke into a light run to keep up with him.  

            "What pray tell is so funny?" Severus had asked her.  

            "Look at us, running to dinner like two students late for the class session!" she laughed, panting a bit.  Severus had had to smile back.  By the time they reached the Great Hall, they were both laughing so hard that even Severus' pale cheeks had gained a pinkish blush and his brown eyes danced.  They swept quickly into the Hall and stopped short as many turned to look at them.  They stood silent for just a moment, looked at one another and laughed again.  Severus offered Merewen his arm and they proceeded to the High Table to join the other professors, several shaking their heads in amusement.  

            This memory was still fresh in his mind when there was an anxious pounding on the door.  Startled back to reality, Severus rose to answer the door.  A very tense Professor McGonagall stood before him.  

            "We have a problem," Minerva said sternly, handing Severus a scroll.  He stood back to allow her inside and locked the door.  A problem meant something with the Ministry.  A problem meant work to do for the Order.  Severus left Hogwarts an hour later, his sleek black broomstick propelling him through the air toward Grimmauld Place for further instructions.  He had only had enough time to leave a brief note for Merewen.  She would, under Professor Dumbledore's supervision, be taking over as Potions Mistress until his return.  If indeed he returned at all.  Severus' heart pounded with a fear he had never known before.  There was something in his heart he didn't remember placing there.  He had not had time to explain it, even to himself, but he had begun to fall in love with Merewen and now she may never know.  

            Severus ached to go back, to turn his broom around and go back to the castle where she was probably just now finding his note and becoming afraid.  Surely, she would not know what is going on.  Nor should she.  Matters dealing with the Order were kept well under wraps, and Merewen could never know about them.  Still, Severus was sure he had left a part of himself there at Hogwarts, there for Merewen to find and if the fates allowed, to return his fervent emotion.  

            Thinking as he flew, he once again remembered the night they were late for dinner.  After the meal, the two had walked back to their quarters still occasionally laughing softly as they walked.  As soon as the students were out of sight and out of earshot, Severus had gently cupped Merewen's face in his hand and lightly kissed her.  Merewen's smile had grown from this as she reached to brush his long hair out of his eyes.  She didn't need to say anything else.  She simply let her cool fingertips linger on his cheek and then walked back into her room, slowly shutting the door and leaving a stunned Severus to walk on air back to his chambers next door.  

            Severus wondered at length if he would ever get to kiss her again.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Merewen had heard Professor McGonagall's voice.  She had heard the fear that trembled in both her voice and then Severus'.  When the noise had stopped, she timidly opened the door and looked about.  She found a note magically tacked to her door.  She pulled it down and quickly went back into her room and shut the door.  The note consisted of two pages of Severus' masculine script.  The note explained a sudden emergency that demanded that he leave immediately for London.  He couldn't tell her what it was about, only that it was dangerous and that in his stead, she would be completely in charge of teaching potions, something that he was certain she could do with flying colors.  Merewen nodded as she read this, as if she were accepting the responsibility as any capable teacher would.  She continued to read the note as Severus moved from business matters to the more personal ones.  

            _"This sudden disappearing act is not something I relish.  If it were not a dire event, I would not have done this to you at all.  Not that I feel that you couldn't handle any situation with the grace you have shown since you came here, but there is something more pressing and most assuredly more personal that I need to tell you.  I heard your voice as you sang at the piano that I placed in your room for you and my heart sang with you.  I realize that I cannot expect you to return my feelings during such an emotional time, but I needed you to know something.  I need you to know, my sweet Merewen, that I love you.  I pray as I write this and as I fly from the safety of your reach tonight, that someday I will again have the joy of holding you again. _

_Yours forever, _

_                        Severus"  _

            Merewen's hands shook.  She was crying and it all but blurred her vision as she read the last sentences of Severus' note.  Merewen stood and paced the floor before the fire.  Her first thought was his timing.  How could he up and leave and confess love in a note left on her door?  What was he thinking?  Certainly he knew better than this.  He would come back and Merewen would have to have a talk with him.  Then it dawned on her like lightning through the clouds.  He might not come back.  Her heart pounded.  She looked over to the cloak and hat hanging on hooks near the door, for a fleeting moment thinking that she still had time to follow him.  She would fly to him.  She would help him to fight off whatever evil thing he was going away to fight and she would bring him home with her, as victorious in battle as two knights returning from the fray.  Then as quickly as they had come, Merewen's aspirations of grandeur faded.  

            She didn't know where he had gone, she had no idea what he was up against, and to abandon the watchful care of his classes and his house would never be tolerated.  Helpless, Merewen ran from her room and up the stairs, flying out into the open courtyard and turning her face up to the pin dots of light in the blackened sky.  

            "I love you!" Merewen shouted, tears streaking her face and desperately guessing what direction he had gone so she could face that way.  "Severus, I love you!  I love you!"  

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	5. Flying Solo

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 5: Flying Solo 

            Merewen was finding it hard to keep her concentration on the stack of assignments before her.  She had been teaching all of Professor Snape's classes for nearly a week, and today she had been correcting for nearly two hours.  Merewen put her quill back in the ink pot and looked up toward the windows. She wondered where Severus was.  She hoped that he was safe.  Most of all, she just wanted him to come home.  The pressures of teaching all seven levels of potions class, keeping ahead of her lesson planning, procuring supplies and lab equipment, and correcting homework assignments was beginning to take its toll on Merewen but she trudged on, fighting to correct the last of the papers before she fell asleep at the desk in the potions classroom.  Sixth year Lillandra Calendula's paper on the importance of Ministry standards regarding the quality of potion ingredients was the last thing Merewen saw before she dozed off.  

            When Professor Dumbledore poked his head into the potions classroom, part of him still expected to see Severus sitting there reviewing the day's lessons.  Instead, he saw Snape's student teacher, diligent Merewen, fast asleep amid a stack of never-ending student papers.  Beside the desk stood a small cart and within that were racks of tall skinny flutes containing the students' daily assignments.  About three times a week, Merewen collected samples of the students' potions to examine and make sure that they were learning proper mixture and such.  

            Dumbledore chuckled softly.  He remembered what it was like to be a young teacher.  It wasn't easy.  But then again, he had never been put in the precarious position that Merewen was in right now.  Merewen had been forced to become a full time professor overnight, quite literally going from student to teacher in one leap.  He also wondered how Merewen was faring emotionally.  He had spoken to Severus several days before, and he knew that Severus was falling for his pretty protégé.  He knew that Severus had kissed her, but he also knew that the night Severus left Hogwarts, Merewen had burst into the courtyard crying his name and professing her love in return.  She hadn't even seen Dumbledore in the window high above the courtyard.  

            Tiptoeing up to the desk, Dumbledore rested his hand on Merewen's shoulder, waking her from her exhausted slumber.  

            "Professor Dumbledore," Merewen murmured.  "What are you doing here?" 

            "I came down to check on you.  You've grown a bit distant in the past week, Miss Capenum, and I wished to see that you were taking good care of yourself."  Merewen smiled as she lifted her weary head.  

            "You of all people know, Professor, that it's a difficult if not impossible task to be a good teacher and take good care of one's self," Merewen replied.  Dumbledore smiled again.  There was truth to her words, but it didn't make it correct.  

            "It's nearly ten o'clock, Merewen.  Perhaps you should let these papers correct themselves for a while," said Dumbledore, charming her quill to correct the papers for her.  Merewen smiled even wider.  

            "Thank you, Professor," Merewen said, standing slowly to avoid cracking her joints.  Merewen allowed the headmaster to escort her back to her quarters and then she stood inside her door until he was well out of sight.  She locked the door and melted to the floor, weeping quietly.  Where was Severus when she needed him?   

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            Severus was thinking very nearly the same thing miles away, his head pressed against the cold, unforgiving ground.  The outbreak of rebel death eaters proved to be tougher adversaries than he once thought, and Severus found himself laying in wait for an approaching group to pass him so that he could surprise them from behind.  His attempt failed.  They saw him and it was only a short run before they caught him.  Severus' heart pounded as two of the black cloaked, masked death eaters held him against the nearest tree, his face roughly scratching against the bark.  Severus could hear the approach of the third, feel the curve of his mouth as he grinned in malicious anticipation.  

            "You're the traitor," the third death eater said, producing his wand.  "The Dark Lord will be pleased with this capture.  But first, a little fun."  Severus couldn't see it coming but he didn't have to.  He felt it all the way to the core; from head to toe.  

            _"Crucio!" _ 

            Severus awoke in St. Mungo's four days later, his head still pounding and his muscles still aching.  The nurses there assured him he would be there a while.  He tried to mutter something, but his vocal chords were still raw from screaming.  No one had come to his aid until he was on the brink of death, and he had barely made the trip to St. Mungo's.  There was little he could do except to lapse back into unconsciousness and wait for death to claim him.  But something nagged inside him that told him he couldn't die yet.  People were depending on him.  People needed him.  But there was only one person on Severus' mind before pain claimed his consciousness again.  Merewen.  Would she ever know how much he really loved her?  At that moment, Severus decided that he had to live.  If for nothing else but to see the shining green eyes of his own sweet Merewen again.  

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            Merewen lost herself in the rhythm of her work.  Meriwether was now big enough to jump from the floor to Merewen's shoulder, and the students were preparing for their spring exams.  More than ever, Merewen wished that Severus was here.  She had begun to require more information than he had planned ahead for.  She had never administered the standardized O.W.L and N.E.W.T. exams, nor had she ever written out the grade reports that would be owled home to the students families.  This was all a great deal of work, and sometimes she indulged the pleading of Professor Dumbledore and allowed him to help her by doing some of the heavier work himself.  Merewen didn't like to feel like she needed his help.  She desperately wanted to prove that she was a capable professor, one who didn't need her hand held when it came to hard work.  Professor McGonagall had several times reminded Merewen that even she sometimes lets Professor Dumbledore help her.  She worked feverishly all the way through her eighth and ninth weeks of study.  

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	6. Every Breath, Every Step, Dream of Me

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 6: Every Breath, Every Step  

            The end of the week sneaked up on Merewen.  Before she knew it, she was looking at the end of her experience.  In just twenty-four hours she would be leaving Hogwarts.  Every day for a month, Merewen had been scanning the Daily Prophet and pestering the other Professors for news of Severus.  Nothing ever came.  It seemed no one, not even Professor Dumbledore knew where he was.  Either that or no one was telling her.  This thought made Merewen angry.  She didn't want to think the worst, but to think the best seemed like wishful thinking.  Merewen cried quietly as she packed her things, carefully replaced the books she had borrowed from Severus, played the piano in her room one last time and then placed Meriwether in his basket.  It was time for her to go.  There was a pain in her heart that she couldn't seem to shake off.  Severus wasn't there.  He wasn't there to congratulate her, to hold her, to kiss her, to see her off back to London to graduate and move on.  

            Move on.  The words stung at Merewen's being.  She stood in the doorway of her quarters and stiffened her lip, willing the quivering to stop and the tears to go away.  She heard a voice calling to her from the top of the stairs.  Merewen's Slytherin students were waiting to carry her things for her.  Merewen allowed them to do so, taking Meriwether's basket herself.  She felt like she was in slow motion as she walked through the castle.  She was leaving again.  She remembered being a bit sad when she graduated from Hogwarts, but this was different.  There was something else left unfinished here that would never be fulfilled.  She was leaving without saying something to someone and that hurt more than anything she had ever felt.  

            Merewen approached the large wooden doors of the school and felt profoundly sad.  She couldn't believe she was actually going to have to leave.  She stood at the front drive that led directly to the front door and watched as the boys who had carried her things loaded them into the carriage for her.  Merewen embraced both headmaster and deputy headmistress and then stood and looked out across the English countryside as if looking for the last time.  In truth, she was waiting for something to happen.  A miracle.  She imagined that just as she was getting into the carriage that she would hear a voice calling to her and she would turn to see who it was.  

            "Merewen!" 

            Merewen's heart skipped a beat.  That voice.  It was the one from her dream.  It was the one that both admonished and admired her, the voice that she thought she would never hear again.  Merewen set Meriwether's basket in the carriage and turned around.  She didn't bother to stop the tears this time.  There would have been no stopping them anyway.  

            "Severus!" Merewen cried, running back toward the school and throwing herself into the arms of the man she loved who swung her in a circle in his arms before setting her back on the ground and kissing her soundly on the lips.  Severus Snape, renewed by his stay at St. Mungo's, stood there in the Saturday sun, holding his student teacher and love against him with almost bruising strength.  He kissed her again before he spoke.  

            "You wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, would you?" he murmured.  

            "Severus, I wanted so much to…I mean I…I thought I'd never…Oh, Severus I love you so much!" Merewen stammered, finding herself pressing her lips to his again.  Severus felt as if he'd skipped from cloud 1 to 9 in a single leap.  It felt so good to be home in her arms.  

            The school year was over soon after and Severus accompanied Albus and Minerva to Merewen's graduation.  She was a professor now and a bright career as a potions mistress lay before her.  

            "You know, headmaster," Severus commented as he, Dumbledore and McGonagall left the stands to catch up with Merewen.  "I believe I've become accustomed to having her professional help.  Perhaps there is room for more than one potions professor at Hogwarts."  Dumbledore and McGonagall smiled at one another.  

            "I know precisely the woman for the job," Dumbledore said, playing along with Severus' plea.  He knew well what Severus was planning to do after the ceremony.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Merewen accepted the new position at Hogwarts a heartbeat after Severus offered it to her.  At dinner that night, at a fancy restaurant in London, Severus looked up from his dinner and watched as Merewen opened her graduation gifts one by one.  Most had simply sent a card, but a few had sent a sensible object such as a roll of expensive parchment, a set of quill nibs, or something of that sort.  Professor Dumbledore presented her with the quill he had charmed to correct her papers for her that night shortly after Severus disappeared.  Professor McGonagall gave her a tin of ginger newts with a very familiar tartan pattern.  When she had finished and the laughter and chatter had died down a bit, Severus pulled a soft velvet pouch from his pocket.  He had saved his own gift to Merewen for last.  

            Merewen turned the pouch over in her hands before opening it and reaching her fingers inside.  She drew back and pulled out a stunning ring decorated with a small diamond surrounded by flecks of emeralds.  

            "Severus!" Merewen whispered breathlessly.  Severus smiled.  He took Merewen's hand in his own and looked her in the eyes.  Shining love was bright in her eyes.  Severus could see his life in them.  He could see joy.  

            "Merewen Euphemia Capenum, will you marry me?" Severus asked.  Across the table, Minerva squeezed Albus' hand beneath the table in sheer delight.  The look on Merewen's face gave her answer away.  

            "It would be my highest honor to call myself your wife," Merewen replied.  Severus let a tear slip down his cheek as he slid the ring onto Merewen's hand and kissed her.  

            Minerva dabbed her eyes with her lace handkerchief and smiled radiantly  at Albus and then at Severus and Merewen.  There would be a wedding at Hogwarts to plan now.  None of them wanted the night to end.  

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	7. To Have and to Hold

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 7: To Have and To Hold 

            Merewen stood and stretched.  She had been at her desk in her room for hours, writing to her parents, her best friend, her grandparents, and several relatives that she knew would love hearing that she was now engaged to be married.  Merewen also took time to write thank you cards to call who had sent her a gift for graduation.  All that writing left Merewen sleepy.  

            Severus tiptoed up the stairs with two mugs of hot chocolate.  He knew it was Merewen's favorite.  He found that in the last month he had developed a taste for it, even though he had never liked it before.  Severus smiled as he considered the fact that this was another way that Merewen had helped to make him a better man.  Setting the hot chocolate in the upstairs sitting room, he knocked on Merewen's door and smiled as she drowsily answered, "Come in." 

            Merewen had returned to the chair at her desk and was leaning back in the chair, running her hands through her hair as she sat staring across the room to a garment bag hanging on her gilded full length mirror.  Severus walked over and tentatively rubbed her shoulders.  

            "Mmmm.  That feels so good.  I'll give you half an hour to stop," Merewen murmured.  Severus chuckled and kissed the top of her head.  He escorted her to the sitting room where she curled up against his shoulder as she took her mug of chocolate from him.  Severus wrapped his arm around her and relaxed against the back of the couch, sipping his own hot chocolate carefully.  Pensively, Severus looked at Merewen and posed a question.  

            "When did you first know you loved me?" he asked.  Merewen smiled at the innocence of his question.  Severus was usually very serious, so it took Merewen by pleasant surprise when he asked this.  

            "Let's see," Merewen said, pretending to pucker her forehead and purse her lips in thought.  "I first knew I loved you when we spilled that freezing potion and we wound up with snow all over the potions lab.  You got so angry and then we stood there and just looked at each other.  Then you did something I didn't expect.  You started a snowball fight.  That's when I knew I loved you.  I knew then that you were growing, that you were learning to be spontaneous and not let lots of little things bother you.  I knew then.  When did you first realize that you loved me?"  Severus didn't hesitate.  

            "I knew that I loved you when you sat down in my potions class your seventh year, the fall sun glimmering off your hair and lighting your eyes and you asked if you could do more challenging work because you had read the whole book and didn't feel challenged enough.  I had never met anyone like you in all my years at Hogwarts.  I started to dream that day.  I dreamed that someday I would be with you.  To have and to hold for all my life," Severus recalled, squeezing Merewen close to him.     

            "You better be practicing those lines too.  Our wedding is in three weeks," said Merewen.  

            "Was that your dress hanging in your room?" Severus asked.  

            "Yep!" Merewen replied happily.  

            "Do I get to see it?" Severus asked.  Merewen stood and batted him playfully.  

            "No!  It's bad luck for you to see my dress before the wedding!" Merewen cried.         Severus chuckled as she snatched a throw pillow and swatted him with it.  They had been engaged for the past six months, and the two had been taking turns spending time at the other's home.  Between Severus' simple home in Greenwich and Merewen's flat in Thamesmead over looking the mighty River Thames, the two found more than ample opportunity to meet one another's families and spend time alone.  Merewen decided that after they were married, she would like to move in with Severus, that way they were not maintaining both homes when they were both away at Hogwarts.  This made perfect sense to Severus, so it was agreed.  

            Meeting one another's families had been what Merewen called 'interesting'.  Merewen's parents, while thrilled that their daughter had found a secure first job and a man to love, they were worried that Severus was so much older and worried that starting a family might disrupt Merewen's career advancement opportunities.  Merewen had done everything she could to keep from exploding.  By the end of their stay there, Severus had managed to help her settle her parents' worries and ensure that they were attending the wedding.  This trip seemed smooth compared to what was coming next.  

            The couple next made a weekend stay with Severus' family.  When they arrived, Severus' brother Oran answered the door.  Severus had not seen his brother in years, and any awkwardness that had been between them before melted in the happy reason for this visit.  He was thrilled to meet Merewen, but he sternly warned them that Severus' mother was stable but a bit anxious and for good reason.  Severus' father had been drinking.  Merewen shot Severus a terrified look.  Severus wrapped his arm around Merewen's shoulder and took a deep breath.  If nothing else, he wanted Merewen to meet his mother. 

            That evening, Severus and Merewen were forced to share the only guest room, breaking their standing rule that they would not sleep together until their wedding night.  Merewen was shaking.  Severus' father was hardly understandable when he spoke, and he shouted when poor Merewen stuttered as they were introduced.  

            "P-pleased to meet you, Mr. Snape, sir," Merewen said.  "I am--"   

            Merewen didn't get the rest of her sentence out.  The senior Snape bellowed at his sons, wanting to know why Severus brought home a woman who couldn't complete a simple sentence.  Before Merewen could melt into a puddle of tears, both Severus and Oran rushed to take Merewen upstairs.  Severus' mother was right behind them.  Snape senior was larger than his sons, more burly and twice as strong.  He managed to get a hold of Severus' shoulder and pulled him back, tripping Merewen in the process.  Before Oran could catch her, Merewen tumbled down the stairs, covering her face as witnessed Severus' father smashing the empty bottle over her fiancé's head.  Oran produced his wand and stunned the older man and the whole family left him lying on the floor and buried themselves in the bedrooms and guest room.  Merewen had tended Severus' wounds with trembling hands.  

            Severus wrapped his arms around Merewen and held her, soothing her trembling and crying.  They hardly moved for what seemed like forever before one of them gathered a voice to speak.  

            "I'm sorry," Merewen whispered through a shimmering veil of tears.  

            "Whatever for?" Severus asked in surprise.       

            "I froze.  I wasn't--"

            "Don't ever say that," Severus interrupted.  "You are an amazing woman and I love you.  That is all that matters.  My mother thinks you're a darling and my brother is already wondering if you have a sister for him.  You couldn't have made a better impression if you had tried, love."  Merewen bit her lip and nodded as Severus stroked her hair.  The weekend passed quickly and soon, Severus and Merewen were on their way back to their own home and their own life.  Oran promised them as they left that he would bring he and Severus' mother for the wedding.  Severus had embraced his brother and kissed his mother before they apparated away.  

            Merewen kept all of this in her heart as she and Severus made the final preparations for their wedding.  Thanks to particularly clever owls, the invitations had been sent, and the RSVP list had gotten longer every day. 

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            When the day arrived, Merewen's best friend Avelina arrived early in the morning to help Merewen get ready, followed shortly by Oran, and Severus' mother.  

            Severus stood before the mirror with his brand new dress robes on, the fabric stiff and new.  

            "I feel like Dumbledore in these things," Severus muttered.  

            "As well you should.  You look splendid, Severus," said Oran, tying Severus' green and silver cravat and then buttoning up the long vest that layered over his tunic.  Over all of this went the solid black robe with subtle embroidery.  He looked like a prince, that was for sure, and that was what Merewen deserved: a prince.  He wondered at length if Dumbledore had been nervous before his wedding to McGonagall.  

            "As a matter of fact, Severus, I was positively ill with worry," said Dumbledore, appearing as if on cue.  Severus turned from the mirror and heartily shook the headmaster's hand.  

            "Congratulations, Severus," said Albus, smiling broadly.  

            "Thank you, headmaster," Severus replied.  

            "You're marrying a wonderful woman today, Severus.  I wish you both the best," said Dumbledore, handing Severus a purple velvet pouch.  It was heavy and Severus heard a jingling inside.  His brown eyes widened as he looked inside to find five thousand gold galleons.  Severus stammered a thank you.  

            "Take good care of her, Severus.  She made you proud last year and a woman like Merewen will continue to surprise and delight you as long as you live.  God bless you both," said Albus, smiling and embracing Severus before ambling slowly out of the room in search of Minerva.  Severus could only sit and smile in joy.  He was a fortunate man indeed.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Stand still!" Avelina hissed as she finished buttoning all the buttons on Merewen's dress and then her new white high buttoned shoes.  

            "I can't help it!  I'm nervous!" said Merewen, pulling her soft white outer robes over her shoulders.  Merewen touched up her make up and lightly fingered the curls that Avelina had spent all morning twisting her hair into.  Standing up, Avelina viewed her work.  Her best friend was indeed a stunning bride.  

            "I think you are about as close to perfect as you are ever gonna get," said Avelina.  

            "I couldn't have done this without you, Sis!" Merewen murmured, opening her arms to her best friend.  Merewen had been an only child, so as Avelina had grown up with her, she was as close as any sister to Merewen.  Avelina made sure that Severus and Oran had made their way down to the massive chapel nestled deep within Hogwarts.  The chapel hadn't been used since Dumbledore's wedding long before, and it had taken more than a little cleaning and decorating to ready it for the day's festivities.  The whole school was invited to the simple ceremony, but only adult guests were allowed to attend the reception.  Several seventh years had scoffed at this, but one well placed look from Severus had silenced them.  They were simply happy to see that their head of house was truly happy for the first time in his life.  

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            "…I now pronounce you man and wife.  You may kiss the bride." 

            Severus and Merewen melted into a heartwarming embrace and then a kiss that both felt all the way to their toes.  Severus swept Merewen up into his arms and in the exhilaration of the moment, carried Merewen back up the aisle and out of the chapel, into the brightness of the sun-lit courtyard.  

            Hours passed like minutes for the pair as they talked, ate, toasted, and danced until the stars were bright pin dots on the face of the night sky.  A vision of the cosmological past shining like diamonds down on the happy newlyweds.  The party lasted well into the night, even after the guests of honor had retired.  They would leave in the morning on a two week honeymoon touring the world one landmark at a time.  Merewen was thrilled and Severus, though a bit nervous to do all that traveling, was excited as well.  

            No one heard from the newlyweds until the next morning, but most had every idea why, if the smiles on the older students' faces were any indication. 

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	8. Turning Circles

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 8:  Turning Circles 

            Their honeymoon successfully accomplished, Severus and Merewen returned to Hogwarts with renewed spirits.  The school year rambled on, and to everyone who had known him before he met Merewen, Severus Snape was a changed man.  His passion and respect for potions had not diminished, but there seemed to be a new fire in him.  Merewen took over teaching the first through third years, giving Severus the leisure to concentrate on the older, more advanced students that he enjoyed.  Students that continued with potions after their fifth year were a special group of young people indeed, and Severus was going to make sure that they got the education they deserved.  

            Spring was melting its way to Hogwarts in March.  The longer days and extra sun seemed to energize Merewen most of the time, but lately she had begun to feel downright lethargic.  She had been sick, but she wasn't sure what was wrong.  It felt as though she had suffered through the world's worst case of the stomach flu.  She didn't dare tell Severus that she didn't know what was wrong.  He had been very sensitive today.  Several students had managed to stoke his fury, and Merewen had been steering clear of him unless she really needed something.  

            One evening, after a particularly trying day, Severus had shouted at several of his students and demanded that they serve detention for some small infraction of the rules.  He was still at his desk when Merewen arrived back from the hospital wing, having conferred with Madam Pomfrey and discovered the reason for her illness.  She knocked timidly on Severus' office door.  

            "Severus?" she asked.  "Are you busy?" She poked her head in the door to find him at his desk up to his eyes in paperwork.  

            "Does it look like I'm busy?" he grumbled.  Merewen carefully entered the room and shut the door behind her.  

            "Would you like me to help you?  I could correct some of this for you," she asked.  

            "I am quite capable of accomplishing this myself if left alone, if you don't mind," he said without looking up at her.  Merewen fell silent a moment.  She wasn't sure if it was wise to press him, but she needed to talk to him.  

            "It's late and tomorrow is Saturday.  Come to bed and we can finish in the morning," Merewen suggested, walking around the desk to rest her arm across his shoulders.  

            "I said I didn't want to be disturbed!  How many times to do I have to say that!" Severus shouted.  Merewen staggered back a bit as he rose from his desk to face her.  

            "I warned the students not to bother me and they come anyway!  I ask that the faculty not disturb me and three of them come with requests for this and that!" Severus roared.  

            "I'm not the faculty!  I'm your wife!" Merewen shouted back.  

            "I already told you I'm not ready to stop yet!" Severus yelled, slamming his books and throwing them across his desk.  

            "I had something important to tell you!  You don't have to shout at me!" Merewen cried, bracing herself from falling backwards by clutching the side of a shelf.  

            "Don't back talk me!" he bellowed in reply.  Without thinking, he raised his arm and half a second later, Merewen was on the stone floor, one hand covering her face.  She stared up at Severus with eyes wide with shock and fear.  She tried to cry out but all she managed was a whimper.  

            Severus suddenly shook his head and looked down at his hands in realization.  What had he just done?  He couldn't believe he had just struck the woman he loved.  He had promised her over and over he would not become his father and tonight he had.  She had only come to talk to him and he had treated her terribly.  He knew she had been ill.  Had Madam Pomfrey discovered something?  Could there be something perilously wrong with his newlywed bride?  Severus started to shake as he turned to look at Merewen, who was inching away from him.  Severus collapsed to his knees and crept toward her.  She tried to inch away faster but there was nowhere to go.  She was sobbing now, and Severus' look had changed completely.  He gathered Merewen into his arms, holding her tighter as she fought him, and apologized over and over, hoping that at least one of these apologies would find her heart.  They sat there on the floor and Severus rocked her as he held her, kissing her temple and the top of her head.  

            "I'm so sorry!  Oh God, Merewen, I'm so sorry!  I'll never do that again!  I'm so sorry!  Oh, Merewen I love you so much!  Can you ever forgive me?  I'm so sorry!" Severus murmured over her sobbing.  Slowly, her tears slowed and stopped.  The two sat in silence for what seemed like all night before Severus spoke again.  

            "Darling, you came to tell me something tonight.  What was it?" Severus asked.  Merewen took a deep, shuddering breath and swallowed before answering him.  

            "I spoke with Madam Pomfrey today about how sick I've been lately," Merewen replied.  "She says there's nothing wrong."  

            "But what caused you to be so sick?" Severus asked softly, stroking her hair, his eyes wide with concern.  

            "I'm pregnant." 

            Severus' heart soared.  A baby!  Severus was going to be a father!  Seconds later, his heart plummeted back to earth.  He had hurt Merewen tonight, physically.  Could he have hurt the baby?  Fear laced his heartbeat as he looked at his wife, glancing at her belly and back again, placing his hand over it.  

            "We're really…I mean we're going to….we…Oh, Love!" Severus cried, kissing Merewen with all his heart.  Merewen accepted his kiss and later, after talking for nearly three hours, she accepted his apology as well.  Breathless, Severus snuggled into bed beside Merewen that night, his arms wrapped around her abdomen.  She cuddled backwards into his arms and pulled the covers over them, sure now that everything was going to be okay.  

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	9. Stress and Relaxation

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 9: Stress and Relaxation

            The rest of March passed without much incident.  Spring classes always seemed to bring out the restlessness of the students, which neither potions professor dealt with well.  After one particularly stressful day in April, Merewen reclined back into the chair opposite her husband's desk and rubbed her temples with her fingertips as she growled in frustration.  

            "You know, some students are just not cut out for this stuff.  I'm starting to wonder if some of these kids have any magic in their blood at all!" Merewen grumbled through gritted teeth.  

            "Nigel Longbottom?" Severus offered.

            "No," Merewen stated flatly, "But thanks for reminding me of that one too.  I was referring to Riana Hallowell."  Severus cringed.  If the Longbottom brothers managed to mess things up, little Riana Hallowell could mess things up much worse.  That week, she had not only managed to botch her own potion, but that of everyone in her row in class.  Chaos had ensued and Merewen hadn't even flinched as she sent Riana to see Professor Dumbledore.  

            "I knew that there was a reason that that child was a Hufflepuff," Severus sneered.  

            "It's like the harder she tries the more she screws up!" Merewen cried.  

            "You do realize you're going to wind up tutoring her," Severus reminded her.  Merewen rolled her eyes and sat forward, resting her head on the desk.  

            "And listen to her whiny, stuttering voice for another hour every day?  Do I have to?" Merewen whimpered.  Severus cracked a small smile.  

            "That's just your prenatal hormones talking, my dear.  You love to tutor and help the students become better so that they may appreciate the delicate art and exact science that is potion making," Severus said, quoting both his beginning of the year speech and hers.  

            "Yeah, yeah, bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death.  I listened to that speech every fall for the first four years of my Hogwarts career," Merewen moaned.  Severus gave her a look of amused surprise.  He put down his quill and helped her up out of the chair.  

            "Come now, it won't do for both of us to be bitter.  That's my job," Severus said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.  Merewen gave him a dirty look.  

            "You're incorrigible," she admonished.  

            "I know," he smirked in return.  "Let's go for a walk before dinner.  Perhaps that will clear our minds for the evening." 

            "Fresh air!" Merewen sighed.  She tucked her hand into the crook of Severus' arm and they left the dungeon, eager to get a good circuit of the school grounds in before dinner.  

            As they left the castle, Albus and Minerva looked down at them from their tower bedroom.  Albus had Minerva securely in his arms and was dancing with her to the sounds emanating from a muggle record player.  

            "Were we ever that young, Albus?" Minerva asked, stroking his beard with her hand.   

            "When have we not been?" Albus quipped.  Minerva laughed.  She let Albus hold her closer and kiss her, making Minerva's heart flutter.  Minutes later, Severus and Merewen were skipping stones on the lake, and Albus and Minerva were proverbially having their dessert before their dinner.  At dinner, both couples glowed.  

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	10. Chapter 9 and a half: Interlude I

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 9 ½ :  Interlude I 

            Minerva McGonagall was still re-buttoning her collar and adjusting her emerald robes as she stepped across Poppy Pomfrey's office and stared out the window into the brightness of the May sun.  She stood there for a full minute, her arms crossed over her chest before she spoke.  Her voice was grave and filled with fear.  

            "Are you certain about this, Poppy?" Minerva asked.  Poppy sank into the comfortable chair opposite her desk and looked at her friend with sympathetic eyes.  

            "You've checked everything?  Considered every explanation?" Minerva said.  Poppy nodded solemnly.  "You know, you have options, Minerva," Poppy reminded her gently.  "It's not like this is the first time something like this has happened." 

            "I didn't think this could happen," murmured Minerva, wringing her hands.  

            "We're witches and wizards, Minerva, but we're still human," said Poppy.  She was leaning forward now, easing her weight onto the surface of the desk in front of her.  

            "You're certain that you—"

            "For the third time, yes, Minerva," said Poppy.  "Would you like me to help you tell Albus?" 

            "No," Minerva insisted.  "This is something I have to tell him myself." 

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	11. Surprises Amid the Winter Snow

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 10: Surprises Amid the Winter Snow 

            Merewen loved the winter time.  The cool, crisp air and the fluffy snow made Merewen tingle with thoughts of snow angels, snowballs and Christmas Holidays.  Taking a deep breath and then turning away from the window, Merewen took her place at the table for the weekly staff meeting at Hogwarts.  Merewen didn't like these meetings, but she supposed that they were necessary to the fluid functioning of a good school.  Rolling her eyes a bit, she focused in on the sheets of parchment in front of her denoting the schedule for the meeting, and topics to be discussed.  Merewen folded her hands over her abdomen, now swollen with child, and realized once again that it did no good for her to be at these meetings because she could hardly reach the table in order to write her notes!  She would be so glad when the baby was born.  

            The baby.  Merewen smiled.  It was nearing Christmas, and all Severus wanted was a healthy baby boy.  Oh, he had assured Merewen that no matter what the gender of the infant that he would love it no matter what, but Merewen knew in her heart that deep down, every man wanted a first born son.  

            Merewen only heard the first several paragraphs of Professor Sprout's proposal to expand the Herbology curriculum used for the sixth year students.  She was dozing off when Severus gently touched her wrist and woke her.  

            "Perhaps you would like to go and lie down, darling," he whispered, lightly kissing her ear as he spoke.  "I'll let you know what happens."  Merewen nodded and squeezed Severus' hand as she stood and discreetly excused herself.  

            As Merewen made her way back down the corridor, she tried not to grumble.  Madam Pomfrey never had to attend these stupid meetings, she thought.  Her position as school nurse was far too important to have her be away from it for too long.  Five minutes later, Merewen realized why.  

            Nearly overtaken by a wave of pain, Merewen clutched the stone wall for support.  She thought to shout for Severus, but the meeting room was soundproof.  When the pain passed, she turned the next corner and headed directly for the hospital wing.  For some reason, she was suddenly glad that Poppy didn't have to attend those stupid meetings.  

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            Minerva McGonagall Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  She knew that Merewen had left and knew very well why.  Resting her long, elegant hands on her own belly, she mused as to whether or not her own skin would be able to stretch that far.  She was sure that, being a woman, mother nature made several accommodations for just that.  She remembered with quiet amusement the night she had been required to tell Albus that she, at her age, was expecting his child again.  Her expression changed as she remembered the one time before that Minerva had been pregnant.  A tragic summer accident in a muggle car had sealed the fate of her precious firstborn.  She had not even carried the baby to term.  When the emergency workers pulled Albus and Minerva from the wreck of their vehicle, Minerva thought she was fine.  In all reality, she had come away with only bumps and bruises herself, but the blow had been enough that as she waited for Albus to be treated at a muggle hospital, a place Minerva deeply despised, she had begun to feel sick.  She was nauseous, her throat ran dry, her temperature skyrocketed, and then it happened.  There was a burning sensation inside her.  She felt as though her insides were on fire.  Three hours later, Minerva had awakened in a stark white recovery room not remembering any of what had just occurred.  Albus was standing beside the bed, tears streaking his face.  Minerva couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but it sounded a lot like the word miscarriage.  The following weeks were a blur that Minerva to this day couldn't seem to piece back together.  

            Lightly, Minerva ran her hand over her belly and relaxed backwards into her chair.  This baby would be different.  Poppy had assured Minerva over and over that the circumstances of this baby were much different, and that even though Minerva would have to be very careful and get plenty of rest, that there was no reason that Minerva shouldn't carry this child to term and beyond.  Minerva's thoughts were yanked back to the present as polite applause ended Professor Sprout's presentation.  

            "Professor Dumbledore?  Is something wrong?" cried Professor Flitwick.  Albus was sweating and appeared dizzy.  

            "Albus?" Minerva said cautiously, covering his hand with her own.   

            "I'm…" Albus attempted, but he didn't finish the sentence.  Hands shaking and fighting for breath, Albus Dumbledore collapsed to the floor.  He felt as though his whole chest was caving in.  Severus Snape was out of his seat a fraction of a second later, along with Minerva.  

            "We have to get him to the hospital wing!" Professor Sprout cried.  

            "No time!" Severus replied.  "I'm taking them to St. Mungo's.  Filius, you're in charge until we return."  With a determined nod, Professor Flitwick accepted his orders.  With this, Severus, Minerva and Albus were gone.  

            Looking around, Professor Vector asked, "Whatever became of dear Merewen?" 

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            Merewen, for now, was patiently bearing with the pain ripping at her abdominal muscles.  The contractions had not become bad enough to warrant screaming, and, Merewen's stubborn nature insisted, it never would.  She clutched Poppy's hand for the several seconds that it took for her to endure that contraction, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut and then relaxed back against the pillows stacked behind her.  

            "Is the meeting over yet?" Merewen asked breathlessly.  

            "I don't know," said Poppy, shaking her head.  "I would think so, Merewen, but I can't be sure and I don't want to leave you here alone."  Merewen nodded and allowed Poppy to press a cool cloth to her forehead and the back of her neck.  She ardently wished that Severus would hurry.  She badly needed him right now.  

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	12. To Give to the Light

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 11: To Give to the Light 

            Minerva was miserable.  An hour ago she had been remembering the last time she was in a hospital and now she was in one again.  It was the most awful case of deja vous she had ever had, and this time, Albus was the one in danger.  Minerva sat in a cushioned chair and blew her nose as she continued to stare at the blank white wall in St. Mungo's Hospital waiting room.  She didn't know what to think.  

            Severus walked slowly into the room and sat down beside her.  A healer in lime green robes approached them and shut the door behind himself.  Severus slid his arm around Minerva's shoulders and gently squeezed as he took hold of her hand.  

            "I have good news," said the healer.  "Albus is going to be just fine.  He had one artery that was 90% blocked.  We've given him something for that, and also something for the pain.  The blockage has dissolved and we just administered a sedative so that he can rest.  He's groggy right now, but if you wish, you can go in and see him. I'd recommend that you go home, get some rest, and come back in the morning.  He should be well enough to go home in about 48 hours."  

            Minerva nodded numbly at this.  A heart attack?  Minerva shook imperceptibly.  She was glad he was going to be all right, but she couldn't get over how easily she could have lost him.  Severus held her tighter as she buried her head in his shoulder for a moment and cried.  Severus kissed the top of Minerva's head and gently led her in the direction that the healer indicated.  

            His vision still a bit blurry from the medication, Albus Dumbledore looked up from his bed to see his wife walking in the door with Severus.  Inwardly he panicked a bit.  Who was guarding Hogwarts in the absence of its leaders?  But on the other hand, he was glad to see that Severus had done as he had promised.  When Albus and Minerva discovered that they were going to be parents, Albus had spoken to Severus, asking of him a responsibility that even light-hearted Albus took very seriously.  If ever something were to happen to him, he wanted Severus to help look after Minerva and their child.  Severus had been honored by this request, and promised to do his level best.  Now, as Albus lay incapacitated in St. Mungo's, he was glad he had made this request.  

            After allowing time for Albus and Minerva to share a kiss and for Albus to reassure Minerva that he was indeed going to be all right, Severus insisted that Minerva needed to return to Hogwarts to rest.  

            When they arrived back at the school, Severus insisted that Minerva go and pay Madam Pomfrey a visit.  

            "I'll be fine, Severus, I just need to rest," Minerva said.  

            "I just want her to take your blood pressure and pulse and make sure," Severus said softly, guiding her toward the hospital wing.  

            As they approached the hospital wing, they both thought they heard the sound of a familiar voice.  Severus nearly fainted.  

            "Merewen!" he said, quickening his pace.  

            When Severus arrived in the hospital wing, he found Merewen lying in one of the beds, her eyes shut tight and her hands clenched around the bed sheets.  She wasn't shouting, but she breathed hard and was crying as she tried desperately to endure the pain of her contractions.  Poppy was at the foot of the bed, checking that things were proceeding properly.  She looked up quickly when she heard the door open.  

            "Severus!  That was some staff meeting!  Whatever took you so long?" Poppy demanded.  

            "There were complications, Madam Pomfrey," replied Severus.  He explained what had happened and Poppy's eyes grew steadily wider.  She was overjoyed that Albus was going to live, and then turned her attention to the emerald clad witch shuffling in the door of the hospital wing with her handkerchief in one hand and the other hand over her belly, which was just now beginning to show.  

            "Minerva!" Poppy cried, running across the wide aisle to meet her.  Minerva wilted into her best friend's arms as she cried, allowing Poppy to escort her to another bed and help her to lie down.  

            Severus on the other hand, turned his attention to his wife, who had just noticed that he was finally there.  

            "Severus, hold me!" Merewen whimpered.  Severus took hold of Merewen's hand and leaned down to kiss her soundly on the lips between contractions.  They were coming much faster now, every fifteen minutes to be exact.  Despite the pain, Merewen was feeling a little better now that Severus was there.  She hadn't wanted to give birth without him there.  

            "I'm here now, Love.  It's finally come to this.  We're going to be parents soon!"  Severus whispered and Merewen nodded.  

            "I just want the pain to stop and my baby to be here.  I want the pain to go away!"  Merewen wept.  Severus kissed the top of her head and gently rubbed her back, hoping that this might help the pain somewhat.  

            Poppy returned to check on Merewen and discovered that Merewen was completely dilated and ready to push.  

            "All right, Merewen, it's time to work now," said Poppy gently.  Merewen nodded briefly before another contraction, thirty seconds after the last one, seized her.  She recovered from this and did as she was told.  

            The Italian word for 'birth' literally means, "to give to the light", and half an hour after he arrived, Severus Snape was holding his infant son up to glimmering late afternoon light streaming into the hospital wing.  

            Merewen smiled as she watched them.  The awestruck look on Severus' face was worth the whole nine months.  Severus and Merewen named their cherished baby son Radwan, a Hebrew name that means 'Delight'.  

            "Radwan Caleb Snape," Merewen repeated as Severus lowered him back into her arms.  Radwan was every inch his father's son.  He was born with a thin black layer of fuzz on his head for hair, and even though babies are born with blue eyes, Radwan was already showing hints that his eyes were going to be brown.  He had his mother's nose, her high forehead, and her long fingers.  Merewen smiled at this.  

            "Pianists fingers," she whispered.  Severus smiled back.  

            "He's strong," Severus added, his voice raw with emotion as his son gripped his index finger.  Poppy, having properly cleaned the baby and assessed its health and the health of the new mother, slipped quietly over to sit with Minerva, who was sitting up and silently dabbing her eyes as happy tears spilled over them.  

            Minerva left the hospital wing minutes later, given a clean bill of health from Poppy, and proceeded to decorate various parts of the school with pale blue ribbons and small flags that proclaimed, "It's a boy!  Congratulations Professor Snape and Professor Capenum!"  Severus and Merewen only laughed and shook their heads.  Without Albus there to curtail her, Minerva simply did whatever came into her head.  


	13. Chaos and Captivity

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 12: Chaos and Captivity 

            A month had passed since the day Radwan Caleb Snape was born.  His parents, feeling rather cooped up on this gloriously clear January day, bundled up and joined the students in Hogsmeade for the day.  Merewen was grateful for the opportunity to stretch her legs again, and Severus was glad for the fresh air and opportunity to spend more time with his new family.    

            "You mean showing off your family," Merewen teased as she wrapped the baby in his warm bunting and blanket.  Severus blushed a bit.  He couldn't refute it.  He knew she was right.  Fastening Merewen's winter cloak over her shoulders and then putting on his own, the Snapes rode by carriage to Hogsmeade to join the others in town.  

            Taking a deep breath, Merewen sighed and then turned her sparkling eyes to her husband, who wore the grand smile of a man who for right now, was completely content.  He looked back at her and kissed her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they walked through town.  

            "What was that for?" Merewen asked playfully.  

            "For changing my life for the better," Severus said softly.  Merewen smiled again.  A distant screaming pulled the happy family from their dreamy conversation.  Severus and Merewen looked up to see that the students up in the distance were falling unconscious to the snow.  Severus produced his wand as two banshees  descended on the helpless crowds of students, teachers and villagers.  

            The banshee wailed again and Merewen started to feel dizzy.  She dropped to her knees and lay down on the ground, afraid that if she fainted, she might drop the baby.  Severus saw her go down and panicked.  

            "Merewen!" he cried.  

            "I'm so dizzy!" Merewen shouted above the wail of the banshee.  Severus knelt beside her, firing defensive spells in vain as the banshee passed over them.  Severus tried to clasp his hands over his ears but it was too late.  Dizziness overcame him and he collapsed, covering Merewen and the baby with his body before losing consciousness.  

            When Severus awoke, the dim light and damp air of a dungeon prison assaulted his senses.  When his eyes adjusted to the surroundings, he could make out the silhouette of a black cloak and a mask.  A heavy, black gloved hand slowly reached to remove the mask.  

            "Lucius?" 

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            Pounding on the door of the Headmaster's office startled Albus and Minerva out of a sound sleep.  The hand behind the awakening from their afternoon nap belonged to Harry James Potter, and he, along with other seventh years present at the scene of the banshee onslaught.  The banshees had been accompanied by the same band of death eaters responsible for the attack that took Severus away from Hogwarts for all that time the previous year.  

            "Professor Dumbledore!  Professor McGonagall!" Harry shouted.  When Harry frantically told them what happened in Hogsmeade, it didn't take long for the two elder wizards to gather themselves together and prepare to follow Harry back to the scene.  Albus stopped his wife at the door.  

            "I am NOT staying here!" Minerva shouted.  

            "You are carrying my child!" Albus insisted, for once the tenderness gone from his voice and replaced with fear.  

            "But what can I do here?" Minerva cried.  

            "Help Poppy with the injured," Albus ordered as he turned to go.  

            "Albus!" Minerva cried.  Albus turned.  

            "Be careful, my love!" Minerva wept, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.  He hungrily kissed her back and then released her to his arms length to look at her.  Minerva looked to Harry.  In this, his last year, he had grown to eye level with her and then some.  She gathered Harry into her arms and held him in a rib crushing hug.  She took his head in her hands and made him look at her.  

            "Listen to me, Harry," she said softly.  "I know you've never known the love of a mother, but I want you to know that my love, a mother's love, goes with you and your friends tonight!  I've loved you as a son since you were just a baby, Harry.  Please, my son, come home with your shield…not on it!"  Harry fought the hot tears that fell from his eyes as he pulled her close and hugged her again.  With this, the Boy Who Lived and the Only Wizard He Ever Feared left Hogwarts to go to battle.  

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            Minerva did her best to help Poppy with the students who arrived at the hospital wing.  Many only needed minor treatment and then to be sent back to their dormitories to rest.  By the time she and Poppy finished, it was late evening and Albus had not returned.  Come to think of it, many had not returned to the castle, among them, Severus, Merewen, and their baby son.  

            "There's something wrong!" Minerva cried, pacing the floor of the now quiet hospital wing.  

            "There's nothing we can do without knowing where to look, Minerva!" Poppy replied.  Helpless, Minerva returned to her tower bedroom and sobbed herself to sleep.  Her whole world, and that of every other wizard and witch in the world was coming undone tonight.  

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            Draco Malfoy burst back into the Slytherin common room and ran to find his friends.  Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were sitting forlornly in a corner of the common room.  

            "Where have you two been?  I tried to find you in Hogsmeade during the attack and you were both gone!  Goyle, are you crying?" Draco hissed.  

            "She's gone, Draco," Crabbe mumbled.  Both looked as if they had been through something awful.  

            "Who?" Draco asked, suddenly unsure whether or not he wanted to know.  Goyle couldn't bring himself to say it.  

            "Mandy," Crabbe said softly.  "She was so afraid of the banshees.  Their scream made her eardrums explode.  She was bleeding from her ears and then…"  Even Crabbe couldn't bring himself to finish the story, but Goyle bravely lifted his head to tell Draco the ending.  

            "No one knew that she had an aneurism.  The trauma of her eardrums popping must have made it explode," Goyle said through his tears.  "She died in my arms."  

            "Mandy Brockelhurst was a Ravenclaw," Draco said in confusion.  

            "She was my girlfriend, Draco, and if you thought of someone other than yourself you would have known that," Goyle growled.  He and Crabbe stood and left the common room, heading up to the dormitories to get out of the noisy repercussions of the afternoon.  

            Draco stood mystified and watched his friends go.  He hadn't stopped them, he hadn't yelled at them, he hadn't done anything.  He couldn't.  He could only watch them go and wonder what he was doing wrong.  He decided he needed to talk to his father.  Draco headed for the owlry, a short note in his hand, and sent it off.  He hoped his father would get the note soon.  He needed to know what this attack had been about.  

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            Draco stepped out of the shadows to be visible beneath the street lamp at one corner of Knockturn Alley.  He faintly made out the shadow outline of his father coming toward him and stood up a little straighter.  

            "What is this about, Draco?" Lucius asked coldly.  

            "I need to know what this is about, Father," Draco answered.  "Why did the death eaters attack Hogsmeade today?"  

            "This is none of your concern," Lucius replied.  

            "Goyle's girlfriend died today," Draco replied.  

            "Was she a Slytherin?" Lucius asked.  

            "It doesn't matter," Draco growled.  "What business did they have there today?  Professor Snape hasn't returned to the castle and some of the house is getting restless."  

            "You are never to speak of Professor Snape or his wretched family again.  Forget him," Lucius ordered.  Draco was taken aback.  

            "What are you talking about?  He's the head of our house," Draco asked.  Lucius took his son by the cloak and pulled him into a nearby building.  They descended a long staircase and came to a row of dungeon-like cells.  Lucius stopped before one of them just as a familiar voice screamed out.  Draco flinched as another death eater cast the torture spell on the potions master lying on the cold stone floor of the cell.  

            "Stop him!  What's this about?" Draco shouted.  He was as tall as his father now, but the elder Malfoy still wielded much more power.  

            "He has been a traitor since the day the Dark Lord was defeated.  He will pay for betraying Lord Voldemort!" Lucius roared.  Severus looked up at Draco with pleading eyes.  

            Draco heard a much more feminine voice coming from several cells down.  She was pleading with someone.  The cell, as Draco suspected, contained Professor Capenum, and Crabbe and Goyle's fathers were there with several other fathers that Draco knew.   One of them held a baby in his arms.  Professor Capenum was straining against her chains and crying, pleading for the death eaters not to harm the baby.  

            Draco's heart pounded.  Should he do something?  His father would surely object to him helping these prisoners, but he couldn't help feeling allegiance to his head of house.  Professor Snape had never done anything to harm his students, even though he had been emotionally distant at times and had been a strict and exacting teacher.  Draco knew that this was Professor Snape's newborn son.  

            The death eater that held the baby looked coldly at Professor Capenum.  

            "Where is it?" he demanded.  

            "I don't know what you're talking about!" Merewen cried.  

            "Liar!  The Heart is known to all of your kind!"  the death eater shouted.  The baby screamed in fear and Merewen panicked.  

            "That was a rumor!  A legend made up to go with the story of Harry Potter!" Merewen cried.  Another death eater stepped forward and backhanded Merewen across the face.  

            "Never mention that name again," the death eater warned.  Merewen wept harder.  

            "The Heart, Professor," the first death eater said coldly.  The Heart was a thing of great power.  It was said that the only way Harry Potter could defeat Voldemort was with the help of his mother's heart.  Many supposed that there was really such an object, and others resigned it to legend.  If the death eaters possessed the Heart of Lily Potter, they felt that they would finally have the power to defeat Harry and ensure Lord Voldemort's reign.  When Merewen once again pleaded that she didn't know anything about it, the first death eater gently placed his finger beneath the baby's chin and smiled as he lightly tickled it.  

            "Surely, the great and powerful Severus Snape must have place protective wards upon his wife and child," said the death eater.  "Shall we test it?" 

            Then, as suddenly as the snap of a finger, the death eater flicked his hand upward and there was a sickening crack.  The baby was quiet.  In a deafeningly silent fraction of a second, Merewen's heart stopped all together.  Then she screamed.  

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            In the first dungeon cell, Severus heard his wife scream and looked desperately to the death eater before him.  

            "They're killing her, Severus," the death eater lied.  "You can save her if you hurry.  Tell us where the heart is and I can order them to stop."   Severus was at battle in his mind.  The secret he possessed was one of utmost importance to the wizarding world, but his family was in mortal danger and he had to do something.  He did the only thing that he possibly could.  He looked the death eater square in the eye and said the words that they feared the most: 

            "You're…too…late,"  Severus growled.  "He already has it." 

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            Draco pushed into Merewen's cell seconds after the death eater turned around.  

            "How could you!" Draco screamed.  "How could you kill an innocent child!" 

            The death eaters pushed Draco out of the way as they laid the bundle on the bench on the opposite side of the cell.  Draco ran from the cell and down the hall, despite his father calling for him to stop.  He heard a curious noise coming from yet another cell and stopped.  What he found there stole his breath.  He gathered this treasure beneath his cloak and fled the prison, apparating back to the school grounds and then running to the castle, leaving his father stunned in the dark hallway of the prison.  

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	14. The Sins of A Father

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 13: The Sins of a Father 

            Breathless, Harry Potter stopped and pressed his back against the nearest tree.  The outskirts of Hogsmeade were riddled with small clusters of trees and right now, he needed to gather his thoughts.  Beneath his shirt, cold against his flesh, was a necklace.  It was one that Aunt Petunia said had belonged to Harry's mother.  It seemed too feminine to for a boy to wear a heart-shaped necklace, but it had been Lily's, and the only thing Harry really had from her other than her precocious green eyes.  His own  heart pounded as he spotted a group of guarding death eaters surrounding a door on a building that the Ministry suspected that Voldemort was using as a stronghold.  Professor Dumbledore rested a hand on Harry's wand hand and Harry flinched.  Dumbledore's eyes warned the young wizard to calm himself before proceeding.  Gulping and taking a deep breath, Harry nodded to his headmaster and the two were off.  

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            A rumble in the distance awakened Minerva from her sleep.  She rolled over carefully and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she checked her pocket watch.  Had she heard an explosion or was that thunder?  After ascertaining that it was the latter, she meandered down to the Great Hall, but the dinner time atmosphere was not what she was accustomed to finding on a weekend afternoon.  It was solemn, quiet, only murmurs of conversation rose from the tables.  The extended nap had helped Minerva to relax, but only her body knew that.  Her mind still raged with what she needed to do.  She was headmistress in Albus' absence, and though she was well rested and the child within her seemed to still be dozing, she still tingled with uncertainty of what could happen.  As she sat down at the high table, the baby lightly kicked, and she knew that come what may, life would go on.  It was just going to be a matter of patience and time.  

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            Merewen felt weaker than she ever had before.  She never screamed or cried for as long as she had today.  Her eyes were puffy and swollen, her head hurt like fury, and her throat burned from strain and thirst.  Vaguely, she could hear the grate of chains on the floor, but she knew that they were not hers.  

            In the other cell, Severus' cell guard brought a bundle in with him.  Severus' muscles shook as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.  One of his eyes was swollen shut, but he forced the other open in order to see what was happening.  The death eater placed the bundle on the floor out of Severus' reach.  His eyes widened.  Even his swollen eye was open a bit now in shock.  Tears burned down over his cheeks and his voice cracked with emotion.  That blanket, the size and shape of the bundle, there was no doubt in his tormented mind that this was his son.  

            "What have you done?" Severus whispered hoarsely.  With an evil smile that handed down all the retribution that was necessary, the death eater knelt close to Severus' face and said, "You're…too…late."    The guard left, and Severus wept openly.  Surely, no torture was worse than having to look at the dead body of your own child.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Draco tiptoed back into the empty Slytherin common room and hurried to the chair nearest the fire.  He pulled something bulky out from beneath his cloak and held it as he fought to catch his breath.  From the hall leading to the dormitories, Crabbe and Goyle approached him.  

            "Draco, what happened?" Goyle asked as he and Crabbe sat down nearby.  Draco explained to them what happened in the prison in Knockturn Alley.  He told them that their fathers were all there and that there had been a conspiracy to capture Professor Snape and his family.  Then he told them the part of the story that nearly made him sick.  

            "They did what?" Crabbe growled.  

            "But why?  Professor Capenum has never done anything to them!" Goyle cried.  

            "I know.  But I knew something wasn't quite right.  One of the death eaters had his wand pointed at the back wall, like he was projecting something.  Like a sonorous spell through a wall," Draco said.  

            "But why would they do that?" asked Crabbe.  Draco revealed what he had in his arms and his friends gasped.  

            "Because it was a setup.  The baby that the death eater had was nothing but a doll," Draco said.  He was holding baby Radwan, the real one, safely in his arms.  Radwan scrunched up his tiny face and fussed, very much wanting his mother.  

            "Draco, we don't know anything about taking care of a baby!" said Goyle.  "We should take him to Madam Pomfrey." 

            Draco looked at Goyle for a moment with a look of resistance.  He even surprised himself.  Crabbe and Goyle walked along with him to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey was just tucking her patients in for the night.  When Draco showed her the baby and explained what he knew, Madam Pomfrey quickly warmed a bottle and hurried back to them.  She noted Draco's hesitation to give her the baby and restrained herself before severely reprimanding Draco.  She noted that he appeared to feel a responsibility to the infant and decided that it would do no harm to let Draco feed the child.  

            For someone who had never before held or fed a baby, he needed only minimal corrections.  Madam Pomfrey gingerly adjusted Draco's arms to better support the baby's head and shoulders, and helped him to get the baby out of the heavy winter bunting he was still wearing.  Draco sat in a chair there in the hospital wing with Crabbe and Goyle nearby and listened to the sucking sounds that Radwan made as he hungrily devoured his dinner.  

            "Don't you worry, Radwan," Draco promised as he held the baby against his shoulder after the bottle was finished.  "We're going to get your mum and dad back.  I promise."  

            Madam Pomfrey drew the line at allowing Draco to take the baby back to the common room with him.  Radwan would be perfectly safe there in the hospital wing with her, where he could get proper care.  Crabbe and Goyle gently helped to convince Draco of this, and he conceded.  Draco placed the baby in a crib there in the hospital wing and tucked him in before letting his friends lead him away.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The next day, when Professor McGonagall found out about all of this, she demanded to know why Poppy didn't wake her up when it was all happening.  

            "Minerva, you're pregnant.  You need your rest.  There was nothing you could have done about anything last night anyway.  There was no reason to wake you about it," said Poppy, defending her decision.  

            "I'm sorry, Poppy," Minerva said.  "I'm just so overwhelmed right now."  Poppy embraced her friend and smiled.  

            "I know, Min.  I'm here to help in any way I can," Poppy replied.  

            "Thank you, Poppy.  I don't know what I would do without you," said Minerva.            

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Thank you for this, Professor.  I don't know what I would have done without you," Harry said as he and Professor Dumbledore approached the fortress.  

            "There's no need to thank me, Harry.  I've been anticipating this battle ever since before you were born.  It is my honor to do battle beside you," Dumbledore replied.  Harry turned to his teacher and gave him a look of reverent respect.  Harry extended his free hand to shake Dumbledore's. 

            Dumbledore himself couldn't believe how much Harry had become a young man in the past two years.  His shoulders had filled out, his voice had changed, and of course his prowess as a wizard had grown by leaps and bounds, but Harry would never have admitted it.  Dumbledore was very proud of Harry, whether Harry liked it or not.  Harry took one more deep breath before taking the lead and slipping inside.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Draco couldn't seem to leave Radwan in one place.  Though Madam Pomfrey worried about them, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were making suitable make-shift fathers.  Pansy Parkinson had teased them at first, but after a very pointed lecture from Goyle, who had grown to be imposingly tall, Pansy's attitude grew more mild.  

            "What are we going to do with Radwan when we execute this plan of ours?" asked Goyle, handing Draco the bottle from his schoolbag.  

            "What about Professor McGonagall?" asked Crabbe.  

            "She's got problems of her own to deal with," muttered Draco, picking at a plant on the nearby table.  

            "But she's the only one.  Madam Pomfrey will need to take care of Professor Snape and Professor Capenum when we bring them back," said Goyle.  Draco nodded hesitantly.  It would have to do.  

            That afternoon, as storm clouds swirled overhead, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent, Pansy, and other Slytherin students who volunteered to accompany them slipped out of the castle and headed for Hogsmeade on their brooms.  They had all vowed that they were not coming home without their potions professors.  

            "I can't believe our fathers would do this," Goyle had growled before they left.  "I mean, I know that they're death eaters and such, but to threaten the baby!" 

            "And threaten Professor Capenum!" yelled Pansy.  "She's always been so nice to me!  Even when I was such a brat she was always fair!" 

            "Fathers or not," said Draco, tightening his gloves over his hands.  "Paybacks are a bitch."  Draco's eyes narrowed into icy slits as he mounted his broom.  

            When the Slytherins arrived at the place in Knockturn Alley that Draco led them to, Millicent involuntarily shuddered.  

            "It's going to be okay, Millie," said Crabbe, squeezing her shoulder.  Millicent nodded and followed them.  

            As soon as they descended the stairs, incapacitated the first group of guards and pressed forward into the darkness they saw the rows of cells and Pansy's heart sank.  

            "How are we going to find them with all these cells?" she hissed.  

            "Simple," said Draco, leading them to the first cell his father had led him to.  Professor Snape was curled up on the floor, not moving except for shallow breathing.  The bundle that had been on the floor was gone, but Severus was sure that the image was impressed upon his eyelids for the rest of his life.  

            Draco looked at his friends and they all produced their wands, pointing at strategic points on the cell door.  They blasted the door apart and coughed as the dust settled.  Snape didn't panic, even though he couldn't see who was coming into his cell.  He didn't care anymore.  What was his life without Merewen and the baby?  He fell unconscious again as the students undid his chains.  

            "What do you think you're doing?" roared a voice.  Pansy and Millicent screeched, Crabbe and Goyle jumped, and Draco spun around, wand pointed firmly in his father's direction.  

            "I've turned a blind eye to much of what you've done, father, but I've grown up," Draco growled.  "I'm old enough to choose my own path and I will.  Not.  Choose.  Yours."  Lucius held his head up as his son stared at him down the point of his wand.  

            "You would betray your family?" Lucius asked.  

            "No family of mine murders an innocent child," Draco sniveled.  

            "If you do this, you are no son of mine," Lucius threatened.  

            "So be it," said Draco without flinching.  Pansy forced her mouth closed as she helped the others get Professor Snape to his feet.  

_            "Petrificus Totalus!" _ 

            Draco and Goyle ran the length of the hall to where the cell that contained Professor Capenum was situated.  Goyle swallowed hard.  

            "My father did this?" he whispered through gritted teeth.  Draco nodded.  Goyle pocketed his wand as Draco and now Millicent protected him.  He stooped down and gingerly lifted Professor Capenum into his arms.  She awakened momentarily there, a somnambulism brought on by pain, fear and physical trauma. 

            "Leave me, " she whimpered. "leave me here.  I can't go on anymore!"  

            "Yes you can, Professor," said Goyle, lightly kissing her head. 


	15. A Rose That Can Grow Anywhere

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 14: A Rose That Can Grow Anywhere 

            When the Slytherin students returned to Hogwarts, they were battered and bruised from their encounters with the death eaters, but they had returned with their prize: their potions teachers.  Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were waiting for them when they burst back in the large wooden doors, and escorted them to the hospital wing.  By the end of the evening, Madam Pomfrey had pushed two of the hospital wing beds together side by side and the potions professors were tucked into them.  The students insisted that it would be better for them if the first thing they saw when they awoke was each other.  With all that they had been through, neither of them moved a muscle with the exception of breathing, for a week.  

            In that week, there were many outbursts of battle.  There were times when each side worried that all was lost, and times they were sure that the day was won.  In the end, on a sunny day in February, the shape of a familiar, messy head of hair cast a shadow on the Great Hall.  Professor McGonagall looked up from her chair at the high table to see that indeed, Harry had come home not just carrying his shield and the sword of Gryffindor, but leaning upon his sturdy shoulder was Professor Dumbledore.  

            The reaction of the students and staff was immediate and loud.  Minerva pushed through the crowd, Poppy and several others close behind her, and pressed herself into Albus' waiting arms.  Poppy didn't stop behind her friend, but stood on tiptoe in search of another face.  When she found him, hobbling slowly along with the stragglers at the end of the victorious procession, it was her turn to cry.  She pushed further through the crowd of witches and wizards, young and old, and cried out, "Alastor!" 

            One good eye and one magical eye snapped to attention at the sound of this name.  Alastor Moody looked around for the source of the cry but he needn't have looked long.  He dropped his walking stick as Poppy came running and swept her up into his arms.  

            "I was so afraid I'd lost you!" she whispered.  

            "Oh, my Poppy," he murmured in reply, caressing her face.  "There isn't a force on earth that could keep me from you!"  Harry watched in quiet happiness as they kissed hungrily.  He decided that it was best to let them be for a while, and turned back to face his classmates.  They were trying to hoist him up onto their shoulders, but he held them back.  They stood mystified as Harry approached the staff table and turned to face them.  

            "We have cause for celebration today," Harry began.  "This morning, the evil wizard known as Lord Voldemort perished at my hand, but I could not have accomplished this, indeed, I could not have lived this long, had it not been for the support, knowledge, encouragement and love of the people in this room.  The four wizards and witches that founded this school were all uniquely different, but they had a common vision, and that was that they strived to live in harmony with each other and the world around them. 

            "Though there are times that we disagree, we owe it to them and we owe it to ourselves to continue the legacy of peace that they worked so hard for.  The threat of Lord Voldemort is no more, but his death eaters still exist.  Many of them met the same end as their master today," Harry glanced pointedly at Draco, Crabbe, and Pansy.  "and many of them escaped.  Many good wizards and witches gave their lives today," Harry nodded to several more who had lost beloved classmates in the fight.  "But still more of us have survived.  This should serve to show us all one thing," Harry paused and looked out over the sea of people, his teachers, friends, classmates, fellow wizards and witches.  

            "Evil cannot live in a place where good people are willing to band together and protect each other.  Evil cannot overcome us if we do not allow it to live in our hearts.  If we are free people, if we are willing to lay down our differences and embrace the camaraderie that binds us together, then today, my friends, we have truly won!"  

            The roar of cheering, applause, whistling and stomping on the floor was deafening.  Harry stood there, before his classmates, and only now, after the battle had been won and the day was done, did Harry allow himself some celebration.  

            After the elaborate dinner in the Great Hall, Madam Pomfrey made her way back to the hospital wing, Alastor Moody clinging tightly to her hand.  They walked quietly into the wing and Poppy stopped her beloved near the window so that she could go and check on her patients.  All the students who had been injured before had been released, so all that was left was Severus and Merewen, still lying unconscious on their beds.  

            Poppy pulled the covers up to their chins and lightly kissed the top of Merewen's head before once again grasping Alastor's hand and pulling him back with her toward her quarters in the back of the hospital wing.  

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            The morning sun streamed through the tall windows that graced Madam Pomfrey's bedroom.  A light breeze ruffled the sheer draperies and, combined with the warmth of the sunshine, gently awakened the healer from her slumber.  She would have immediately sat up and stretched, but she smiled as she felt the warm weight of another person beside her.  Alastor's arm rested across her waist and secured her firmly against him.  Poppy shifted slightly and her wedding ring caught the light, sending little sparkling rainbows all over the opposite wall.  Alastor mumbled a bit in his sleep and snuggled closer to Poppy, burying his face in her hair. Poppy giggled and rolled over to face him.  

            "I've missed you so much!" Poppy whispered.  Alastor's grip on her tightened and Poppy moaned softly.  Moments later, Alastor had undone the top few buttons on her nightgown and let it slip away from her collar bones.  Lightly, he blew a breath over her flesh and she moaned again.  Alastor let a wicked smile cross his lips.    

            "Enough with the preliminaries, Alastor, kiss me!" Poppy begged.  

            "Oh, dear heart, the preliminaries are half the fun!" he said, undoing a few more buttons and lowering his head to kiss her chest.  Poppy whimpered in joy as her heart rate and breathing doubled.  

            "Don't make me wait too long, love," Poppy warned.  

            "You won't wait, beloved.  Not long at all," 

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            Merewen thought she was dreaming.  Since when had her prison received any sun?  She also sensed the fullness of pillows and the warmth of a quilt.  She fought her heavy eyelids and opened her eyes.  Lying beside her, still very much asleep, was Severus.  Merewen very softly found her voice as she slowly reached for his hand.  

            "Severus?" 

            Severus' bewildered brown eyes blinked open, taking in the surroundings.  

            "Merewen!" He murmured, reaching to pull her close.  Since both of them were still very weak, this took some time, but Merewen managed to nestle herself into his arms.  

            "I was so scared!" Merewen whispered.  

            "They told me you were dead!" Severus replied.  

            "Part of me did die," Merewen whimpered.  "Those monsters killed my baby right in front of me!"  Severus swallowed the lump in his throat as he held Merewen tight.  They cried for what felt like an eternity until Madam Pomfrey emerged from her quarters and saw that they were awake.  Gently, she treated what remained of their wounds, and then ordered them to go back to sleep.  She looked over at the crib near her bedroom door.  It was empty.  Poppy smirked.  Young Mr. Malfoy had been here already this morning and claimed his young charge.  Poppy sent Alastor to go and find Draco.  Certainly, Severus and Merewen had needlessly mourned enough.  

            When Draco arrived, gently relinquished the baby to Madam Pomfrey, lingering at the door as she walked across the room.  Draco knew that this wasn't by far the last time he'd see Radwan, but it probably would never again be in the same capacity.  Perhaps Madam Pomfrey would mention to Professor Snape what a good babysitter he had been.  

            Poppy moved slowly to the beds that held the professors and gently sat down on Merewen's side.  Softly, she called for them to wake up.  When Severus saw the white wrapped bundle in Poppy's arms, he shuddered and started to cry again.  Merewen awoke seconds later and she inched toward Severus when she too saw the bundle. 

            "Please, Poppy, don't do this to us again!" Severus begged.  But Merewen had a different opinion.  

            "Give him to me!" she sobbed.  Her instinctual need to hold her child overwhelmed her brain telling her that the baby was dead.  She took the baby from Poppy and was shocked when the baby woke up and started to cry in her arms.  

            "What is this?" Severus cried, looking up at Poppy.  She was brushing tears of her own from her eyes as she explained what Draco had discovered and the events of the past week.  Severus folded his arms around his family and sobbed again.  Poppy quietly tiptoed out of the hospital wing to give them some time alone.  Thankfully, finally, the frightening ordeal was over.  

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	16. Reflection

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 15: Reflection

            The March sun burned the chill off the morning as Draco Malfoy slowly picked his way around the edge of the lake.  His mother had not been pleased to hear that not only had Lucius perished in the final battle, but that he had disowned Draco in the process.  Draco's memories of all of this whirled into a blur in his brain.  His mother's rage, his father's funeral, Professor Snape presenting him with a special award for services to the school, and his impending graduation all seemed to muddle together in his thoughts.  He wondered what would become of him after this year.  He had never known anything but his father's family and their money.  Now he would have to make his own living.  He thought of being an auror.  With his insider information on evil wizards and witches, perhaps this would give him an edge.  This thought was starting to make him feel better.  He recognized this feeling even though he had never had it before.  Hope.  Being a 'good guy' wasn't going to be easy, but Draco wasn't sure he minded.  Perhaps a little hard work was what he needed.  A smile started to bend the corners of his lips and pinch laugh lines into his cool blue eyes.  Yeah, perhaps things were going to work out.  He picked up a smooth stone and skipped it across the water, watching as it skipped twice, three times, four times and finally plopped into the water.  A scream disturbed the serenity of the moment.  Draco pulled his wand from his inside pocket and pointed it in the direction of the scream.  

            "NO!  Somebody help me!" 

            Running toward the sound, Draco began to see the outline of a long black cloak and heavy boots running away from the stand of trees nearby.  A sobbing replaced the scream and Draco suddenly found himself standing before the shaking, beaten, abused body of Ginny Weasley.  She saw Draco and inched back, pinning herself against the tree she was curled up by.  

            "Please don't hurt me anymore!  Stay away!" she screeched.  Her red hair was a mess of tangles, leaves and dirt, her clothes were torn, bruises and bleeding scrapes evident beneath them.  She was trying to cover herself with the tatters that remained of her clothes but it wasn't working very well.  Draco knelt beside her and she screamed again for him to leave her alone.  

            "I'm not going to hurt you!" Draco pleaded.  "Let me help you!" He pulled off his cloak and carefully draped it over her.  Ginny wiped her eyes and looked more carefully at who was before her.  

            "Malfoy?" she whimpered.  

            "Let me help you, Ginny.  Let me take you back to the castle," Draco replied.  

            "You know my name," Ginny said in confusion.  Draco cracked an embarrassed smile. 

            "There may be a lot of Weasleys, but there's only one of you," he replied.   Ginny sniffled and took a deep, shuddering breath before allowing Draco to carry her back to the castle and all the way to the hospital wing.  

            By the time Madam Pomfrey finished with her, Ginny's face was washed, her hair was brushed, and she had been tucked into bed.  Draco pulled up a chair beside Ginny as Madam Pomfrey went to notify Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall of the situation.  Minutes later, Ron Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley boys and Ginny's older brother burst into the hospital wing.  

            "Ginny!" he shouted, embracing her as she sat up in bed.  Both of them cried for a while, seeming not to notice that Draco was there.  Ron looked up from the embrace and finally noted that Draco was there.    

            "What are you doing here?" Ron demanded.  

            "Ron, he saved my life!" Ginny reprimanded.  She told Ron what had happened, and that Draco had saved her from her attacker.  Ron's stance relaxed a bit and his eyes softened.  He extended his right hand to the blonde haired Slytherin in front of him.  

            "I'm sorry, Malfoy.  I owe you one for saving my sister," Ron said.  Draco grasped Ron's hand and finally shook it.  

            "It was my pleasure," Draco said simply.  He stood up, preparing to leave and Ginny called him back.  Gently, she pulled his face down to hers and lightly kissed his cheek.  

            "Thank you, Draco," she whispered.  Draco's blush was a hardly visible pink in the brightness of the sunshine, but it was enough.  He kissed Ginny's hand in return and then left the hospital wing, leaving Ron to comfort his sister.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Minerva shifted her weight a bit and opened her eyes.  Squinting at her pocket watch, she realized that she had long overslept this morning.  With all the anxiety of the battle with Voldemort over, she had found herself with more time to devote to being an expectant mother.   Poppy had insisted upon a great deal of rest, even though at first Minerva had not been comfortable sleeping so much.  She felt that she was losing valuable productive time that way.  As the months wore on, she found that Poppy had been right and sleep became one of her higher priorities.  This morning, she couldn't seem to place the back pain she was having.  Perhaps the baby was just sitting in a difficult position inside her.  She readjusted the pillows around her and tried to go back to sleep.  

            Half an hour later, a pronounced stabbing pain woke her again.  This time, Albus was sitting at his desk in his office below and somehow heard her as she cried out.  

            "Minerva?" he called.  Minerva pulled herself up off the bed and hobbled down the small flight of stairs to the landing that overlooked Albus' desk.  

            "Albus, it's time!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Poppy had sent Ginny, with Ron, back to the Gryffindor dormitories an hour before another frantic pair of voices echoed into the entry to the hospital wing.  Poppy charmed the bed to change its linens and make itself and then turned to see her best friend walking slowly into the hospital wing, braced by her husband.  Poppy felt a surge of excitement and laughter at the same time.  She was thrilled that it was finally time for Albus and Minerva to have their baby, but it was too funny to see two people their age, especially Albus with his long white hair and beard, behaving in a manner she had seen more often in 25 year olds.  She helped to get Minerva settled into a bed and then went about procuring what she needed to perform the delivery.  

            Albus stood and watched this process, slightly bewildered by what was happening.  He thought he had prepared himself for this.  He had even talked with Severus about what it had been like when Merewen had given birth to their baby.  But nothing prepared him for the rush of emotions he was feeling now.  He was afraid for Minerva, her advanced age making it more dangerous to give birth, he was worried that the baby might not be healthy, he was ecstatic that he was finally going to be a father, and on the other hand he wondered what kind of father he was going to be.  It was all very overwhelming.  All he could do was stand beside Minerva and hold her hand, occasionally rubbing her back and lightly kissing the top of her head and her temples as he murmured to her that she was doing well.  

            "Albus, If you--" 

            "I know, my dear, if I ever touch you again, my wand will not be the only thing broken," Albus said soothingly.  Minerva nodded.  

            "I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that," Minerva replied.  Another contraction swept over her and Minerva gritted her teeth in pain.  Albus mopped her brow with a cool cloth and reminded her how beautiful she was.  Minerva gave her husband a look that might have stopped the heart of any other man.  

            "I love you, Minerva," Albus repeated.  Minerva relaxed as the contraction ended and she sank back into the pillows on the bed.  

            "I just want this to be over," Minerva wept.  Albus kissed her tears and then her lips.  

            "Soon, my beloved, soon," Albus reassured her.  

            It was only a matter of several hours before the contractions became strong enough and close enough to bring Minerva into the proper position for delivery.  Poppy reached beneath the blanket that covered Minerva's midsection and legs and checked that she was properly dilated.  

            "All right, Minerva," she said, trying hard to keep her excitement from running away with her.  "It's time to push!"  Minerva took a few deep breaths and then, on Poppy's mark, bore down as Poppy had taught her.  

            "Eight…nine…ten…breathe, Minerva," Poppy coached, seeing to it that Minerva held each push for ten seconds and then breathed for a moment before pushing again.  Three pushes into the process, the baby's head appeared enough for Poppy to support it.  

            "Albus!" Minerva cried as the head slipped out completely.  Albus squeezed her hand and kissed the top of her head, continuing to encourage her and count with Poppy as Minerva pushed.  The hardest part would be the baby's shoulders.  

            "Take a deep breath and really push on this one, Minerva," Poppy said, "You're almost there!"  Two more pushes later, Minerva cried out in agony as the baby's shoulders emerged.  

            "Good job, Minerva!" Poppy shouted.  "One more good push and you'll be done!" Minerva mustered what was left of her strength and pushed again.  The baby came easily now, arriving safely into Poppy's waiting hands as Minerva cried out once more.  

            "You did it!  You did it, Min!" Poppy cried, tears cresting in her eyes.  

            "Don't call me Min!" Minerva wept as Poppy allowed Albus to cut the baby's umbilical cord. Now it was Albus' turn to cry as the first wails of his infant daughter filled the air.  

            Half an hour later, Albus and Minerva were sitting alone in the hospital wing while Poppy made out the birth certificate.  

            "She's so beautiful!" Minerva whimpered.  

            "You're both beautiful," Albus replied reverently.  He kissed Minerva and then kissed the baby's head, holding them both as he sat on the bed beside Minerva.  

            "What will we name her?" Albus asked.  

            "We'll call her Abigail," Albus replied after a moment of thought, "because today she made me the happiest man alive.  Abigail Breandan Dumbledore."  

            "Breandan?" Minerva asked, curious about her husband's choice of an Irish middle name.  

            "It means 'little raven', my dear.  Look at her, she's inherited your lovely black hair," said Albus.  Minerva leaned closer to Albus and pressed her lips to his.  

            "I'm so lucky to be your wife," Minerva murmured.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	17. Saving Forever

**Visions in the Night Sky **

****

Chapter 16: Saving Forever 

            "Radwan Caleb Snape!" Merewen shouted into the sunlit courtyard.  She clutched her robes and held her skirt just above her shoes as she walked briskly across the grass.  Radwan, now a happy, healthy 8 year old, looked back from the path to the tree he had been running towards.  His face lit up and he turned and ran back toward the castle, running nearly full force into his mother.  

            "Mamma!" he cried, an innocent, smile igniting his pale features as he embraced her.  Merewen shook her head—already so much his father's son!  

            "Don't you give me that angelic look, mister.  You've been picking on Abby Dumbledore again," Merewen said sternly.  

            "She put a dung bomb in my book bag!" he shrieked.  

            "What have I told you about picking on girls?" Merewen demanded, taking his face gently in her hands.  

            "That it's not nice and that someday all the girls I pick on will come back and turn me into a toad but Abby put bread crumbs on my bed and when I got back there were birds all over the place and she just laughed at me!" Radwan cried rapidly.  

            "Then I will talk to Abby's parents again but please, Radwan, I beg of you, please stop picking on the headmaster's daughter!" Merewen pleaded.  Merewen knelt as best she could, her belly filling out beneath her dress.  She and Severus' second child was well on its way.  Radwan hung his head and pouted.  Merewen lifted his chin in her hand and made him face her.  

            "How much do I love you, Radwan?" Merewen asked gently.  Radwan smiled a little now.  

            "More than I can ask or imagine," he said.  

            "That's my baby," Merewen said, holding Radwan close.  

            "No, that's your baby, Mamma," Radwan replied, resting a hand on Merewen's belly.  

            "You are both my babies and I love you both very much," Merewen replied, kissing Radwan's head before giving it a little push back toward the tree he had been meaning to climb.  Merewen shook her head and proceeded back into the castle.  Arriving back at the Potions classroom, Merewen sank into a chair in Severus' office next door.    

            "What are we going to do with him?" Merewen muttered, rubbing her temples.  Severus nearly cracked a smile.  Radwan was much like him at that age.  

            "You may think this is funny, Severus Aquinas Snape, but your son has been harassing the headmaster's daughter," Merewen retorted "Professor McGonagall said that he hung Abby by the collar of her robes on a hook in the back of the transfiguration room,"   Severus winced a bit.  All of the animals that McGonagall used for her classes were back there, and he knew well that it was a source of fear for young Abby.  He would have to have a talk with Radwan and promised Merewen that he would.  Apparently satisfied, Merewen dragged herself out of the chair to go take an afternoon nap.  Severus continued to write at his desk for a few minutes and then stopped, placed the quill back in its well, and joined her there.  A nap could do him good.  He also found that spending quiet time with Merewen seemed to keep her mood swings fairly at bay.  Frankly she was dangerous when she was angry!  Severus remembered a time a couple months before when Merewen had been upset and ruined a potion when her hand slipped and she added whole porcupine quills to a potion that called for a splinter of one.  She had stomped, grumbled, and shunned his affection for weeks.  

            Merewen cuddled backwards into his arms and opened her eyes.  She murmured something to Severus about talking to the Dumbledore's about their daughter and Severus winced.  He deeply respected Professor Dumbledore and quite frankly was afraid of Professor McGonagall, so it was not without a little trepidation that he made his way to the headmaster's office.  

            "Come in, Severus!" Albus called merrily when Severus knocked.  

            "Good day, headmaster, Professor McGonagall," Severus said politely.  A gray tabby cat nestled in Albus' lap purred on as Albus stroked her; oblivious of the fact that another person was present in the room.  

            "What can I do for you, Severus?" asked Albus, the morning sun glinting off his spectacles.  At that moment, young Abigail Dumbledore entered the room, greeted her parents, and made for the stairs leading to her bedroom.  

            "Abby, perhaps you had better stay here.  This concerns you," suggested Snape.  Albus' eyebrows gained a curious tilt and the tabby stopped purring.  She jumped down from Albus' lap and seconds later, she transformed back into the emerald clad transfiguration professor.  

            "What's happened?" demanded Professor McGonagall, squaring her shoulders.  "Has Radwan decided to dangle her from the Astronomy Tower windows now?" 

            "Minerva, please calm yourself," Albus said gently.  Abigail walked to her mother and wrapped her arms around Minerva's waist.  The willowy girl nearly disappeared beneath her mother's billowing robes.  

            "Severus, please sit down," Albus said.  Severus did as he was told, but when she was invited to do the same, Minerva stubbornly stood near Albus' desk with one arm around Abigail's shoulders and the other stroking her long dark hair.  Severus explained what Radwan had told them, and Albus patiently listened.  Minerva held her tongue until Severus had finished, but when he was done, Minerva's normally stern expression was boiling with anger.  

            "How dare you!" she hissed.  "Our daughter would never behave in such an unladylike manner!"  

            "But how do you explain the dung bomb in Radwan's book bag?  Not to mention the birds and bread crumbs in his bed?" Severus pressed.  

            "Rubbish!" 

            Albus would have interjected, but once the two most heated tempers on his staff started up, there was nothing to do but sit back and hope not to get burned.  

            "Your son is a bald-faced liar and a bully!" 

            "Your daughter is a brazen dominatrix!" 

            "I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree for the Snapes does it?" 

            "You would know that quite well, Professor!" 

            "Enough!" Albus finally shouted.  "Minerva, please return to our chambers.  Severus, I will speak to you this afternoon."  Severus moved toward the door and Minerva to the stairs, guiding her daughter with her.  "Abigail, come here please."  

            "Yes, Poppa?" Abigail said softly.  Albus invited her to come and sit on his lap, which she readily did.  She loved to play with his beard, and he enjoyed having his daughter wrapped in his paternal embrace nearly as much as he enjoyed holding Minerva near to him at night.  He proceeded to have a very stern but fair talk with Abby.  She knew she was in trouble.  She avoided eye contact with her father for the most part.  She took his beard in her hands and nimbly braided several lengths of it.  Albus allowed the information to sink in for a quiet moment and then asked her if her mother had ever told her the story of the goddess Minerva.  

            Abby's eyes lit up.  She loved it when her father told stories.  He told them in a way that made them exciting.  He told her about how Minerva was the greatest weaver in the land, and one day a mortal woman named Arachne became a better weaver so the women held a contest to see who the better weaver was.  In the end, the goddess became so enraged that she turned Arachne into a spider and that's how the world came to have spiders.  By the time he finished, Abby was asleep, and Albus kissed his daughter's forehead before carrying her upstairs to her room. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Severus sat at a desk in the staff room and stared out the windows at the rain splattering the glass.  He was contemplating a vacation for the family to go and visit Merewen's father and perhaps Severus' mother.  

            Severus had to admit that he didn't know his in-laws well.  Merewen's mother had died under mysterious circumstances when Radwan was five, and Merewen didn't often speak to her father.  

            Severus had noted years ago that there were long, strange marks on Merewen's back, but when he had asked about them she insisted that they had come from playing quidditch as a teen.  Severus checked the team registries the next day.  Merewen's name didn't appear on any of the team rosters for the years she attended Hogwarts.  Severus had sat back thoughtfully.  Why would Merewen lie to him?  

            This thought nibbled his thoughts today as he worked on his lesson plans.  Truth be told, he didn't know much about his wife's relationship with her family except that they had been perfectionist parents, and that Merewen had been their only child.  Other than that, he knew little about them.  Perhaps after the baby was born, Merewen would like them all to go and spend a week with him.  Severus was sure that he would like that.  

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Merewen's eyes popped open.  She knew that there was someone else in the room, breathing hard on her neck.  Only one person on Earth made her feel that way.  Only one person made her want to scream in pale-faced fright.  

            A heavy hand pinned her shoulder to the bed and a malevolent face with hardened features composed the visage of the man before her.  

            "How long has it been?" he asked softly.  

            "If you're still breathing, not long enough," Merewen growled.  

            "Insolent bitch," he muttered, backhanding Merewen across the face.  He hated it when they argued.  

            "What are you doing here?" Merewen demanded.  

            "I saw you in the paper.  You've been busy," he replied.  He was referring to the award that she and Severus had received for team-teaching in potions.  He also referred to her pregnancy.  

            "That happens when you work for a living," Merewen retorted.  The man hesitated only a second before grabbing Merewen by her hair and mercilessly beating her.  He left her half an hour later, bruised, bleeding, and unconscious on the floor.  The man stole back up the stairs toward the large main doors of the school.  

            "Master Capenum!" cried Professor Dumbledore, quite soundlessly appearing at the top of the main stairway.  "I believe you've forgotten to greet your son-in-law during your visit today.  Shall I send for him?"  The relatively younger man watched as Dumbledore calmly descended the stairs and stood directly before him.  Dumbledore was imposingly taller than Capenum, the headmaster's demeanor and regal carriage increasing the fear in his guest's eyes.  

            "This is not your business, Dumbledore," replied Capenum, his voice hovering over a growl.  

            "Where is Radwan?  Wouldn't he have like to see his grandfather off?" Dumbledore continued.  

            "He was napping." Capenum replied coolly.  

            "What of Merewen?" 

            "Staying off her feet." 

            Dumbledore stared at him.  He was trying to discern something from the frosted gaze of the man before him.  Capenum spun on his heel and left Dumbledore there in the middle of the cold stone floor.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Merewen awoke and shrank back until her back hit the wall.  Her gaze shot around the room, searching out the danger she was so sure was still there.  Her muscles clenched, her breathing and heart rate were racing.  Once she realized that he had gone, she literally dragged herself to the bathroom that she shared with Severus in their quarters.  She couldn't seem to muster the strength to lift herself any higher than her knees.  There was too much blood, too many bruises.  She viewed herself in a long mirror on one wall of the bathroom.  Her long brown hair was torn, disheveled and crusted with sweat and her own blood.  Her hair.  It had always been her hair.  That was the weapon that he used to make sure she couldn't escape him.  With shaking hands, she reached for a scissors on the vanity counter.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            When Severus encountered Professor Dumbledore in the halls, Albus told him about the man's visit.  Suddenly, Severus had a very ill feeling.  He, accompanied by Professor Dumbledore, ran for the potions wing of the school.  When they arrived and found the room in shambles, both men stopped and listened.  They could hear a sobbing coming from behind the closed bathroom door.  Severus jerked the door open and his heart nearly stopped.  Blood from Merewen's wounds, new and old, had created small pools on the floor, and her hair, her long, thick, beautiful hair, lay in handfuls all over the bathroom.  All that remained on Merewen's head were tufts of it that she was still trying to cut off.  Her scalp was badly scratched and cut and bleeding.  Severus didn't know where to begin.  Before either man could decide, there was a scream from behind them.  Radwan's already pale complexion blanched farther as he glimpsed his mother.  He was sure she was dead.  Dumbledore swept the child into his arms and took him out of the room, leaving Severus to try and figure out what had happened.   

            Between sobs trying to wrack his body, Severus grabbed the scissors from her, wrapped her in a large quilt and swept her into his arms.  She was bleeding too much.  There was something much worse than cuts and bruises wrong.  She hardly fought him as he rushed to the hospital wing, startling Madam Pomfrey with what he had brought.  It was not until the next morning that Severus emerged from the hospital wing.  His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, his hands were shaking, his features had not seen sleep that night.  Professor McGonagall cradled Radwan in her arms as Abigail dozed beside her, and Dumbledore paced the floor.  He looked up at Severus as if to ask what had happened.  

            "We nearly lost the baby," Severus managed.  "There was so much blood.  Merewen is still unconscious.  Poppy…had to deliver the baby prematurely.  We have a daughter!" Severus wept, immediately leaving them.  He fled down the halls, trying his best to hide his tears from them.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Merewen drifted in and out of consciousness.  Poppy's healing hands soothed and melted away her cuts and bruises, re-grew her chestnut hair, and diligently watched and cared for the delicately premature baby that had been emergency delivered a month too early.  Severus rarely left the hospital wing.  The potions classes were handled by Dumbledore or a competent substitute.  

            Severus spent most of his days holding the baby, whom he named Amara Rae.  He desperately wanted her to know that daddy was there.  He fed her on bottled milk, talked to her, and even rocked her to sleep.  Madam Pomfrey found him one morning in the chair beside Merewen's bed, with Radwan cuddled in his lap and the baby securely in his and Radwan's arms.  

            Poppy ran a short diagnostic on Merewen.  She wasn't doing well at all.  She wasn't improving.  Had her attacker somehow cursed her?  It was unlike any curse Poppy had ever seen if that indeed was what it was.  She left the family to rest, knowing that they needed every minute of the sleep they were getting.  

            Radwan awoke in his father's arms and looked at his sleeping baby sister.  Lightly, he stroked her face and she opened her eyes.  She didn't fuss or cry, but instead looked at him as if she were trying to memorize him.  Severus awoke moments later and kissed Radwan's head.  

            "What are you thinking, son?" he asked softly.  

            "What does Amara mean?" Radwan asked.  Severus smiled.  

            "It means 'eternal'," replied Severus, easing Radwan onto his feet and replacing the baby in her bassinet beside the bed.  

            "What does eternal mean?" Radwan asked.  This time, Severus chuckled.   

            "It means forever, son," Severus replied again, tucking a blanket around the baby.  Radwan pondered this.  Forever was a long time.  Amara Rae put together meant 'wise counsel forever'.  Radwan thought this name to be an awesome responsibility.  Would his sister truly be one of wise counsel?  Radwan wasn't sure about this, but he was certain of one thing: his own name.  It meant 'delight; faithful and bold'.  He had no doubt that he was his parents' delight, but now there was a new baby.  Would Amara be their parents' delight as well?  All she seemed to do was make his father sad and his mother ill.  Radwan climbed up onto the bed that Merewen slept upon and snuggled down next to her.  

            "Mamma, wake up," Radwan whimpered.  Under normal circumstances, Severus would have asked his son to behave more maturely but right now, he himself felt like doing that very same thing.  He wanted Merewen to hold him.  He wanted her to touch his face that certain way that she did as to remind him without words that she loved him.  He wanted to kiss her, touch her, to make love to her again.  Moved to tears of loneliness, Severus wept.  Radwan saw this and moved to embrace his father.  Severus fell to his knees and held his son close.  

            I love you, son," Severus said, making sure that Radwan was looking directly at him when he said it.  

            "I love you, too, dad," Radwan replied, holding Severus tight.  Severus then sent Radwan to his lessons.  Merewen usually saw to Radwan's primary education, but in her absence, Professor McGonagall had graciously taken up the reigns of being Radwan's tutor.  Now alone with Merewen, Severus knelt beside the bed and took Merewen's hand.  He kissed it several times before drawing the strength to speak.  

            "I learned long ago not to give you orders, my dear," Severus began.  "But today I will demand this.  You must try.  I know you are weak, I know you are hurting, and now I know that your father has been beating you all these years.  Had I known, father or no father, he wouldn't have had the use of his arms with which to beat my wife.  You are no longer his daughter.  You are my wife.  Today I am telling you that I need you in my life and I want you to try harder.  You are a strong, intelligent, independent woman but I will not let it end this way.  I will not be left a widower to raise two children on my own.  This may be selfish and immature, but come back to me!  Find the will to live and come back!  If not for me then for Amara and for Radwan.  They need you.  They need us both in their lives.  Wake up, Merewen!" 

            By the end of his speech, Severus had dried his eyes.  He waited patiently for a few moments, holding Merewen's hand and silently pleading for her to squeeze it.  

            Very slowly, Severus began to feel pressure on his hand.  Was it wishful thinking?  The grip tightened.  Now he was certain he wasn't dreaming.  

            "Merewen?" he said softly.  Merewen forced her eyes open a bit.  She looked at Severus with the swollen eyes of a woman who had cried more than the waters of the Nile.  

            "The baby," Merewen murmured.  

            "Safe," Severus replied.  

            "Radwan?" 

            "Untouched," Severus replied again.  Merewen stretched her free hand lightly to touch her head.  

            "Poppy was able to re-grow it.  She knew that you would eventually regret having done that," Severus told her.  Severus helped his bride to sit up for the first time in a week.  She was sore and stiff, but she wanted to see the baby.  After an hour, Severus placed the baby back in her bassinet and pulled the blankets back on Merewen's bed.  

            "Severus?" Merewen muttered. "What are you doing?"  Severus leaned over the bed and eased his wife back down onto her back.  Slowly, starting at the bottom, he started to unbutton her nightgown.  

            "I'm doing what I couldn't do while you were unconscious," Severus replied.  He kissed her soundly before shedding his jacket and coaxing her to roll over onto her stomach, something she had not been able to accomplish for nearly a year now.  He poured scented oils into his hands and then smoothed his hands over her back.  She moaned a bit, shifted slowly to get more comfortable, and then relaxed to allow Severus to give her a long, soothing, full body massage.  

            This massage served a very deep double purpose.  Merewen's body received a rejuvenating treatment that it needed, and Severus got what he had been needing, an opportunity to touch her and be close to her again.  Somehow, that bed seemed to make her inaccessible to him, it made her off limits.  But now that she was awake, though she was still too weak to make love to him, he would settle for being able to touch her and being able to alleviate some of the pain that she obviously was feeling.  It wasn't long after that when Merewen recovered enough to return to she and Severus' chambers in the dungeon area.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            It was a cool, rainy night very nearly a month later before Merewen was feeling well enough to cuddle again.  It was much like torture to have the woman he loved shrink from his touch and his kiss, but what happened that night was well worth the wait.  Merewen tucked herself into Severus' arms and rested her left arm over his chest.  As Severus sighed in relaxation, preparing himself for another quiet night when Merewen stretched with feline certainty and lightly ran her fingernails over his chest.  Surprised awake, Severus held his wife a bit tighter and smiled.  Merewen lifted her head and caught him off guard by covering his mouth with her own.  It took Severus a moment to process this and to return the kiss, trying with everything he had to not be so eager that he frightened her.  He allowed Merewen to caress and touch as she pleased; only rolling her beneath him when he felt she was comfortable enough with him again.  He wasn't disappointed.  She returned the favor by allowing Severus the free reign to let his kisses meander where they willed and eventually to where she was hoping he would go.  

            "Oh, Severus!" she moaned softly.  

            "Merewen," Severus replied.  She gasped in return, holding her breath a moment and clutching her pillow for several seconds.  

            "Say it," Severus begged.  Merewen whimpered softly.  Severus drove her closer to ecstasy and made his request again.  

            "Say it," 

            There was one thing that Merewen said that, in the proper tone of voice, drove Severus to distraction.  Something he never thought he would hear from anyone.  Finally, seconds before she hit the peak of passion, she said it, and she and Severus shared a common reaction.  

            "My love!"  

            A quarter hour passed before coherent thought returned to them.   Severus cuddled his wife against him and kissed her again, his hands smoothing over her body, adjusting to every curve, every hill and valley of her body.  Twice more they made love before, weak with exhaustion, they fell asleep, happier than they'd been in a long time.  

            The next morning, Merewen's eyes were coaxed awake by the sun.  When she glanced at the foot of the bed, she noted that Radwan had stretched himself out on the bed on the other side of Severus' legs.  Severus of course, being a heavy sleeper, didn't notice.  But when Merewen moved, Severus awoke and the two gently awakened their son.  

            "What were you doing last night?  I knocked on the door but you didn't answer," Radwan yawned.  Merewen and Severus exchanged partly amused, partly startled looks.  They had not planned to have this conversation with him for a few years yet.  

            "There's a perfectly logical explanation for this, Radwan," Severus began.  Merewen gave him an interested look.  

            "What?" Severus said, looking at Merewen in confusion. 

            "Go on, Severus, I'm waiting to see how you explain our bedroom activities to our eight year old," Merewen replied.  Merewen rose momentarily and took the baby up into her arms, carrying Amara back to the bed with her and laying back down.  

            "Perhaps this discussion is best left for another day," Severus said.  

            "But what were you doing?" Radwan pressed, crawling up farther and snuggling down into the bed beside his father.  

            "We were playing a game," Severus said simply.  

            "A game?" Radwan asked.  "Who won?"  Merewen smiled as Severus pulled her and the baby closer.  With them under one arm and Radwan under the other, he replied, "Your mother.  She always wins."   

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


End file.
